Cecilia's Sleeping Patterns

It was no surprise that over the last few weeks Cecilia's sleeping habits have been all over the place.  Right before Thanksgiving, while Katherine and I were at the hospital delivering Felicity, Cecilia had to fall asleep at night without the help of mommy or daddy.  She pretty much stayed up til 11 PM or so with Grandpa and finally was tired enough to go to bed.  Two days later, Cecilia had two grandparents and two uncles staying in our home with mommy back with a newborn.  Needless to say, the whole townhouse was kind of upside for a few days.  Then soon after Thanksgiving, Cecilia came down with a cold which turned into an ear infection.  That had her waking up crying several times a night.  Then she got another bacterial infection a couple weeks later.  

Finally, right around Christmas, she got into an interesting pattern, which we did not notice immediately;  we would try and get her to bed around 8 PM or so, but she would cry and fuss and we had to go in and calm her and then try to get her to sleep again, which she would finally do around 9 PM.   She would not wake up til between 7 AM and 7:30 AM.  So we moved her bedtime routine and start her bath around 7:50 PM now and lately, she's been ready for sleep between 8:45 and 9 PM every night now.  And of course she still cries some when we leave her in her bedroom, but she adjusts her sheets and such and soon falls asleep.  She even wakes up occasionally to adjust things in her bed and returns to sleep without making much of a fuss at all.  For the past 5 or so nights, she has slept the whole time from 9 PM or so until 7 or 7:15 AM.  

She still takes a nap during the day, for about 1 1/2 hours, usually between the hours of 1 and 3 PM.  She of course does not think she needs a nap, but once we get her into her room and tuck her in and leave, she cries for a little bit, but soon adjusts her surroundings and falls asleep.  

So she regularly gets between 12 to 13 hours of sleep a day.  I think her sleeping habits have become normal finally, and hopefully, with good health, these patterns won't be disrupted again too soon.  

Toilet Teaching One Day At A Time

Yesterday we began potty teaching Cecilia and indeed it was a successful day. In one day, she mastered step 1, namely, she became comfortable enough to sit on potty - which is an Elmo decorated kiddy toilet seat positioned on an adult toilet - for about 10 minutes (or about 3 stories) at a time. Considering yesterday morning when we first put her on it, she cried and only got through half a story and this morning she was content to sit through 3 stories, I'd call yesterday a success.

It is only 8am and today has already been another success. During her first visit to the potty this morning she peed in the potty! The first little bit ceased quickly because she got excited over a balloon in the story I was reading her and the second little bit lasted only a little longer because she became curious what the sound was of the pee hitting the toilet water. But she did it nonetheless.

Day 1: Remove Fear of sitting on toilet. CHECK!
Day 2: Be Relaxed enough to pee in the toilet. CHECK!

Of course the whole thing will take a while, but I have no complaints about our start.

Cecilia, the Big Sister

This morning I got Felicity out of her swing and told Cecilia that Felicity needed a tushie change. I set Felicity on the changing table and got the wipes. While I was doing that, Cecilia tried to get one of Felicity's diapers out for her but I had not restocked her pile. So instead Cecilia went to the pile of her own diapers and set one next to the changing pad for Felicity.

Such a good big sister!

NOOOOOOO!

LOL. Well, I guess it was bound to happen. In addition to many words including Flower, Ball, Balloon, Sure, Book, Bird, Meow, Baa, Arf, Fish, and others, she has finally learned to say the word NO and boy does she like saying that one!

Yet another cold. ::sigh::

It is unbelievable. It is like we can't win. Or maybe I should say Cecilia can't win. Just today when she got the all clear from her urinary tract infection, she has another cold! Her nose has been running like a faucet since yesterday. I vainly hoped it was just teething but it is clearly another cold. My guess as to where she got it was a woman sitting behind us in Church last week. She sat directly behind Cecilia, was sniffling the whole mass, but still shook hands with everyone during the Sign of Peace. Another man at Church kept coughing but never covered his mouth. I commented to James I am tempted to just skip going to any Church until the flu and cold season is over since some people seem completely inconsiderate of the health of others. With rare exception, the only places Cecilia, Felicity or I have been in the last month have been Church and doctor's offices and yet the illnesses seem to attach to us like mosquitos to sugar.

Felicity - 1 Month Old

Felicity turned 1 Month today. I can't believe it - time seems to have flown so fast. But she is certainly using it well. According to our baby scale she weighed in this evening at 7 pounds and 12 ounces. Considering she had dropped to about 5 pounds and 10 ounces in her first few days, she has gained about 2 pounds in the last 3 weeks! And that is with a cold for about 2 weeks! She also measured in at 20 1/2 inches which, using the measurement the nurses took at the hospital, gives her a growth in height of 1 3/4 inches! Talk about sprouting like a weed! She nurses very well though, so it is easy to account for her growth. Some days she nurses on and off all day. Other days she sleeps much more. She fluctuates but between eating and sleeping she is doing very very well. (I think Cecilia likes those days best when Felicity sleeps more - lol.)

First Smile!

Well, today I was giving Felicity a little tummy time on her playmat while Cecilia napped. She does pretty well. She can rotate her head from side to side and picks it up here and there. She also enjoyed swinging her arms and hitting the dangling monkey. After a while she began to be discontented with her activity (who wouldn't?). So I picked her up and told her how well she did and she lit up with a big toothless smile. Of course she didn't understand what I said but I'm sure she understood it was positive and not negative or threatening. She wasn't asleep (we've had many sleep grins) and she wasn't simply passing gas. She just lit up with a great big smile and I count it as her first.

Three Weeks!

Well, we used our baby scale to weigh Felicity on her 3 Week Birthday. On our scale she weighed in at 7 lbs., 1 oz. I think she has passed the worst of her cold though it continues to give her a bit of difficulty breathing. Cecilia continues to grow fond of Felicity. Cecilia will ask Felicity to lay down with her and will alert us immediately if Felicity is crying or the music on her swing has stopped.

Ah, Sleep!

Well, I'm not sure which daughter impressed me more last night. Cecilia, while she woke up twice, put herself back to sleep both times and so slept the night from about 8pm until 7am without needing James or me. Felicity, apparently trying to compete with Cecilia, slept not in 2 or even 3 hour segments but in 2 segments of 4 hours each! We went to bed around 10 and she didn't wake until around 2am to nurse and then slept again until past 6.

Of course it was only one night, but it was a good one regardless!

Unfortunately Felicity is struggling with a cold this week. Being not even 3 weeks old she is not very good about clearing her throat and if the cough gets bad enough she will spit up and has done so three times now. Fortunately though she has not had a fever and has continued to nurse and sleep well even through Cecilia squeals.

Felicity "10" Day appt.

Well, Felicity had her "10" day appt. yesterday even though she was 11 days old. Heehee. Her doctor said she looked good. As far as her schedule of nursing and sleeping he said, obviously, if she lets me know she needs to eat, to feed her, but otherwise whatever works best for everyone is fine.

She measured about 19 inches and her head grew as well.

As far as her weight there is a bit of a debate. When the nurse tried to take Felicity's weight, she had trouble with the scale. She couldn't get it to set from Kgs. to Lbs. When she finally got it set the scale read 5 lb., 15.8 ounces. She wrote down 5 lbs., 15 ounces. When I spoke to the doctor I asked if that .8 was tenths or sixteenths. He said it was tenths and her weight should have been recorded as 6 lbs. They rounded up at her appt. a week ago and yet didn't this past week so she was reflected as only gaining 4 ounces instead of 5, which is the minimum they look for. Now, concerned over weight gain, we had purchased a baby scale that measures to the half ounce when Cecilia was a newborn. I weighed Felicity on that last night and she weighed 6 lbs., 5.5 ounces. Frankly, seeing her when she was born, watching her lose weight and then gain it, she looks to me to weigh closer to our scale than the office's. So what does she weigh? Well, James says he has tested our baby scale comparing it to a mail scale we have and an item of which he was certain of the weight and he said it is accurate. I want to test a heavier object to see if the amount goes off with greater weight but for the time being I must say while I do not completely discount the doctor office's measurement, I am doubtful to its accuracy, esp. given the nurse's difficulty with it.


As a wonderful family note, Felicity did get to be held by her big sister for the first time this morning. Next time I will have to have the camera handy. Cecilia held Felicity in her lap just looking and smiling at her. And then she took her hat and tried to put it on. Discovering it didn't fit, she gave it and Felicity back to me and went and got her own hat.

Cecilia and Felicity Update

Cecilia continues to warm up to Felicity. She likes to play with her toes and hold her hand and tries to give her kisses. It is adorable. She also, however, has been asking to be held more. Can't blame her, especially as she has been feeling so miserable lately.

We are, in fact, sure she is teething now. She was snacking on a cookie this afternoon and I had a tissue handy to wipe her face which requires a bit more pressure than a wipe as it is dry. Only trying to wipe the corner of her mouth and she began wailing.

Felicity, God bless her, continues to be the only healthy one among us now that James has begun cold symptoms. She is still nursing like a champ. Yesterday I began a new schedule with her. I let her naps in the morning last up to 2 hours. In the afternoon I begin waking her once an hour, approximately and this lasts until we go to bed between 9 and 10. I also keep her completely awake for 3 hours each day - one in the morning, one in the afternoon and one in the evening. So far I am hopeful this new schedule is working its magic. Previously she had been wanting to nurse nonstop from early evening until past midnight, which simply put was not working for me. Last night she fell asleep at 9:15 and slept until midnight, nursed, slept until 3, nursed, slept until 6, nursed, slept until 8:15 and then began her day with her awake hour until 9:30. Definitely more manageable. We will see if it continues. Speaking of which....time to wake her again.

Infections and colds and teething, Oh My!

As if poor little Cecilia's week couldn't get worse, she seems to be teething as well. ::sigh::

Felicity and Cecilia Update

On the upside, Felicity has gained back all the weight she lost. She weighed in ths evening, about 1 week after birth, at 6 lbs., 1 ounce.

On the downside, on her 3rd day with fever, we took Cecilia to the doctor and on top of a cold she has her first ear infection. We begin antibiotics tonight and hopefully will be feeling better by Wednesday.

Felicity - 4 Days Old/ Felicity and Cecilia

Felicity saw her doctor today for the first time. He said she looks great. She weighed in at 5 pounds, 11 ounces, which is about what she weighed when we left the hospital. So hopefully she is done losing weight and is starting to pack it on again. She is slightly jaundiced but it is perfectly normal for being only 4 days old.

She has been nursing like a champ and even gives me two 3 hour periods of sleep at night although her nights and days are still partially flipped.

When Felicity first came home, Cecilia was a bit weary of her and just watched her from a distance. She also didn't like it when Felicity began crying. But this morning Cecilia came up to her and said, "Hello." While Cecilia is not ready to hold her or get too close to her, she is definately warming up to sharing mommy. She will point at Felicity and sit next to her and has even offered her a blanket.

Our Birth Story

On Friday evening, 11/16/07, I began having mild cramps. These continued on and off through Sunday afternoon sometimes increasing in intensity. But it was not until Sunday evening that they became irregular contractions which continued all day Monday. At my 38 weeks OB/GYN appt Monday morning, my dr. said I was 50% effaced and 3cm dialated. She offered to try to move my labor along then and there, send me to the hospital for induction, or let me go home and see what happens. Wanting a natural birth, I chose to go home.
Irregular contractions continued throughout the day. Sometimes I'd only have 3 within an hour. I even took an hour and a half nap in the afternoon. It was not until after 5pm when they began to get longer and closer together - generally lasting 30-40 seconds long, with an occassional minute one, and generally 5-10 minutes apart. It was not until 6pm that they began coming ever 3 minutes or so, but again were lasting 25- 40 seconds. Then, at 6:30, suddenly my water broke. Happily I made it off the sofa in time. :) I called my OB/GYN office and spoke with Dr. Bruchalski, who was on call that day. I could hear him cooking in the background and he said it was up to me whether I wanted to head to the hospital and risk induction if my labor didn't progress fast enough or stay home and wait it out and, depending on how long I waited it out, have increased risk of infection. He said I probably was not near to delivery as I was chatty on the phone and very lucid and my contractions did not meet the standard length and stability to indicate nearing delivery. Unable to decide, he said he would call me back.
I had become quite emotional even crying over the situation, including concern over the fact I was apparently in labor while James was ill, Cecilia kept crying at me unable to understand why I couldn't hold her and I was unsure of how to get the birth I wanted or if I could even do it. So, when he called back, I said I would go to the hospital and, if I got there and was only 3 or 4 cm, I would resign my original desire for a natural birth and get an epidural. We decided to try to get Cecilia her bath and into bed before we considered leaving for the hospital.
Shortly into her bath, around 7:35pm, I began to feel an inclination to either go to the bathroom or push. Not sure which it was as I was numb from the waist down last time, I told James we needed to leave immediately. The whole way to the hospital I had consistent contractions every 3 minutes but again never lasting a minute or more. Several during that ride made me want to push down, which I resisted not sure what would happen if I did. We arrived at the hospital at 8:15, were checked in and by 8:30 the nurse was checking me in labor and delivery.
I was 9 cm. The staff could not have been more stunned than I was. Immediately the nurse paged my dr. who, sure I wasn't near labor, was still 5-10 minutes away. During those 10 minutes about 6 nurses rushed around me getting a blood draw, putting in the IV, asking dozens of questions and preparing for delivery. They commented on how calm I was. Truth is I was only striving to apply the bradley Method relaxation on my bottom half....I was too tense and tired to even worry about the top half. Dr. Bruchalski arrived cool as a cucumber, which in retrospect was really good - it kept me from panicking when it seemed so much was happening very suddenly and all at once and unexpected. At 8:45 I began pushing. I wish I had been a bit more patient during the pushing but considering I had been wanting, on and off, to push for over an hour, even I can understand my anxious desire to push like crazy.
At 9:04, Felicity Catherine was born, healthy, calm, quiet and alert.
Looking back I think when I broke down crying was the emotional signal the Bradley Method talks about that signals the transition phase of labor. I thought I was losing it. Really I was nearing the end.
Dr. Bruchalski was great and even joked that the credit of the delivery went to me. He reiterated repeatedly how proud and impressed he was with me. He said I was made of "another fiber altogether." I was simply stunned at the time. I couldn't believe delivery had snuck up on me like that, although I couldn't complain.

So far Cecilia has shown cautious curiousity about Felicity, watching her sometimes but not venturing so far as to try to touch her yet. Felicity and I are home now and hopefully will get more sleep than we did in the hospital. I've about about 2 and 3 hours of sleep the last two nights, only part of that being due to Felicity waking. She is doing well and we will keep you posted about her progress.

The Birth of Felicity Catherine

Last night, November 19, 2007 at 9:04 PM, Katherine gave birth to a small but very beautiful daughter named Felicity Catherine. She weighed in at 6 lbs and was 18 3/4 inches long. The delivery went well and quickly once at the hospital.

When I left both of them late last night, both were doing well and relaxing. To give you the events leading up to the birth, Katherine started having contractions on Sunday night and when we went to a scheduled OB/GYN appointment yesterday morning, the doctor told Katherine that she was 3 cm dilated and it was up to Katherine of what to do next. Katherine decided to wait more at home before going to the hospital and it turned out to be the best thing. By the time we got to the hospital around 8:15 PM, Katherine had been having consistent contractions as well as the urge to push. When checked by the Labor and Delivery nurse, Katherine was already 9 cm dilated. Katherine would have given birth earlier if the delivering doctor was already there. No doubt Katherine will share her experiences on our babies website as well as hers.

Feel free to visit our photo gallery at http://gallery.mac.com/amagicdeeper and see some pictures of Felicity Catherine. If everything goes well at the hospital, we should expect mommy and baby home by Wednesday afternoon. Keep us in your prayers as we make the start of having two wonderful daughters in our lives.

Such an Angel

In the last week we have changed Cecilia's bedtime routine, beginning last Wednesday. After her bath we had been getting her pjs on and then reading her two books in her bed and then laying down with her in her bed until she fell asleep. Now, after her bath, we get her pjs on, read her two books in our bed, and then take her to her bed, say goodnight, and leave the room. The first night we tried this, she cried for 13 minutes while knocking on her bedroom door before climbing into her bed and falling asleep. By last night, after her stories, she grabbed her stuffed lamb, ran to her bedroom, climbed into her bed, pointed at her lamp for me to turn it off and waved goodnight to me. Such a difference. She learned so quickly and has been so good. It was simply heart-wrenching that first night listening to her cry and bang on her door like a helpless child trapped. And then last night to have her get into bed by herself and wave goodnight to me was simply adorable.

The first 3 nights, she slept all the way through the night as well - all 11-12 hours! The last two night have not been so blissful. We are still trying to discern what the difficulty is but we are betting the fact her nose has been running a marathon has something to do with it - whether it is a cold or teething or both. Here's hoping we only improve though.

We certainly think it would have been preferable to start this process with her before now, esp. with a new baby coming, but between illnesses, changing beds, and moving, I'm not sure how feasible it would have been to consider it within the last 3 months anyway.

New Photo Gallery

Lately both Katherine and I been pretty frustrated with Flickr. So I have been experimenting with a new photo gallery at .Mac. You can find the gallery by going to .Mac Web Gallery. The site has photos from the last two months or so. So feel free to check it out.

Update

Well, Cecilia had a good but difficult past month. The week prior to and half-week following the move she was ill with some sort of stomach virus. It was a very wierd virus in my book. She began getting diarhea one Sunday and that lasted non-stop for 2 weeks and she was vomiting on three different occassions but the occassions were not seperated by hours but days - 2 days and then 4 days. Fortunately the miserable virus left and she was her usual happy self again although her recovery became a bit complicated: in order to catch up on her fluids, she began drinking 8 8oz cups of water/apple juice per day until she was going through 10 diapers a day and I could not keep up. We cut the juice out of her beverages and she cut back pretty quickly. Three days after cutting back how much she was drinking, a most unpleasant cold hit and her nose has been running since, though it is improving. Needless to say, Cecilia has had better months.

However, we could not have wished for a better transition for her to the new place. She isn't afraid of anything and enjoys exploring every corner (we have had to put a lock on the lazy susan to be able to use it). Unfortunately for us she has figured out how to open all those child restraint devices on cabinets, but fortunately she leaves them alone most of the time.

Baby "Bean" in the mean time continues to kick up a storm. She has been kicking Cecilia and Cecilia has tried to draw with a marker on my belly. They are already playmates! We have purchased a small baby doll we are going to give Cecilia around the time the baby comes. She might not care for it. But it might give her her own baby when mommy has one in her arms as well.

Cecilia Update

Well, Cecilia had her "18 month" Checkup, even though she is 19 months now. She was so good; I was so proud of her. She weighed in at 22 lbs. 6 oz. and measured up to 31 1/2 inches. Whenever we were just speaking with the doctor she proceeded to simply play around the room and bring us books to show her. She hated having her ears checked but was given a clean bill of health and held perfectly still while she got her vaccination shot. She cried only a minute and then grabbed her Teddy and became our happy little Cecilia again. Throughout the entire thing she only managed to shed 2 tears! She was a great trooper. Now if we could just figure out how to get the bandaid off without her knowing...

Smile Cecilia

Cecilia loves this video. She points out the ball everytime with a loud "Ba..ba...ba.." Although she could also simply love that I sing it to her with "Cecilia Smiles" instead of "Savannah Smiles"...

Our Little Gymnast

For almost a year now Cecilia has enjoyed getting on her hands and feet and looking through her legs to observe the world upside down. To her own surprise, she discovered that if she just pushes off her feet enough, she will flip over. Yesterday she did her first summersault and enjoyed it so much she decided to do a couple more.

Update on Baby "Bean"

Well, the results from the ultrasound were very good. The baby looks very healthy and right on schedule. She has been kicking me more and more, which makes me smile almost every time. She has even kicked Cecilia though I don't think Cecilia realized it as it was in the vicinity of her diaper.

James and I are working on names - primarily girl names though we do plan to have a boy's name just in case.

The pregnancy has been going very well and we are getting eager to meet our new little one.

Getting Bigger All the Time...

Cecilia came dangerously close to crawling out of her crib. She could get one whole leg over the top bar and lift herself up until her body was parallel to the floor.

So, before we had to deal with her and the floor being introduced from a much greater height than she has ever met the floor before.....


She picked out the Butterfly pillow herself. She loves butterflies.

It took us a day to get the guard rail that would fit next to the mattress but inside the side rail of the bedframe. There is no box spring but a special support board and hence she can get on and off her bed all by herself. Our only concern is the fact that once she is on it, she likes to jump and run and have a ball. Hopefully the novelty will wear off enough for the jungle gym antics to cease to panic me and threaten her.

While it did take us over an hour last night, she did go to sleep in her own bed and in fact slept there the entire night. I'm honestly not sure if she woke up all night or not. I know once, before I was asleep, I had to untangle her foot from the sheet, but most of the night was a blur to me.

Tables, Chairs and Balloons

Cecilia received a table and chairs set from Grandma Carol. She loves it. She generally keeps her stuffed Winnie the Pooh sitting in one chair while she uses the other. (It comes with two more chairs, which James assembled, but we are currently storing them until needed.) She eats her snacks at the table, reads her books, and colors with crayons (occassionally literally on the table). Unfortunately she figured out how to climb on top of the table without even using a chair, but at least she hasn't done it since that one time.


Cecilia also absolutely LOVES balloons - usually preferring the yellow ones. I think her favorite place to eat might be Red Robin because she knows she will get a balloon every time.

Cecilia's Visit from "PawPaw" and Grandma Bea

James' parents came up to visit Cecilia, whom they had not seen for over a year. Cecilia had a blast.

A Renewed Start and Pictures of a New Life

First, the title of this blog has changed. Since our family has grown to two children, one in utero, the other ex utero, the blog title needed an update. So do not be alarmed or fooled in thinking that you have found the wrong page. Our ever-growing family needs a new title so we have chosen the Heart of God.

Secondly, last week, Katherine, Cecilia, and I went to get an ultrasound for our new baby. It was a day after our 20 week appointment and we were pretty excited to get a glimpse of our new family member. In case you were wondering, the technician told us with certainty that it appears we are expecting a baby girl!!!! So without further ado, some close-ups of our newest family member.

Update

Well, Cecilia continues to do well. Today she accidentally did her first quasi-summersault! She likes to get on her hands and feet and look upside down between her legs. She was doing this on our bed when she flipped over half forwards and half sideways. She loved it but hopefully she will wait a bit before trying it again.

We had our baby check up today and are measuringright on schedule and the heartbeat sounded good. We get an ultrasound tomorrow so we should have pictures of our newest addition soon!

Update

Well, Cecilia is doing very well. She continues to be a big fan of fruits and veggies. Her breakfast begins every morning with half a banana. She tends to graze through breakfast taking breaks between the 1/2 banana, 1/2 waffle, some cheerios and perpetually watered-down apple juice.

We hope to get updated height and weight measurements at the end of the month when she officially turns 1 1/2 years old.

She has come to love to give "mama" and "daddy" huggies. She loves playing Hide 'n Seek and Tag. She loves balloons, especially yellow ones. She knows all the characters in Winnie the Pooh and absolutely loves books. She loves to bring us one book after another and point at characters and objects and make us name everything. We are using the opportunity to point out colors and letters and objects and occassionally numbers.

Unfortunately she became quite fond of simply throwing herself forwards or backwards. This drives me nuts. Fortunately, after doing this simply on the floor backwards and hurting her head, she has learned to only do this on the bed or maybe on the sofa. Good thing or I was going to have to buy her a helmet.

She loves "doggies" and "kitties" and pointing them out. She also loves the Disney Sing-A-Long DVDs. She only says a few words: "Done," "Daddy," "Mama," "Down," and "Baby," but she understands many more words from her books and experience. She knows what it means when I ask her if she is hungry and she knows what "sit down" and "outside" and "book" all mean. I think she doesn't say as many words because, frankly, she doesn't need to. She has people who cater to her every need and most wants when she points or gives us something. But she'll get there. She is quite intelligent though. She has figured out that keys open door knobs and she works out how to get around problems to get what she wants.

Fun with a Basket

Grandma gave Cecilia a beach basket with some beach toys but Cecilia discovered a whole other way to play!

Cecilia at the National Zoo!

Talk about porky beavers!

Daddy and Cecilia watching the Beavers.

One happy little girl!

She loves that camera!

Cecilia, The Big Sister

If you didn't know from my own website, we are pregnant. So, by Christmas, Cecilia will be a big sister! We think she is ready. She already lays her head on my tummy.

From Illness to Teething

Well, Cecilia made a long drive to Florida for the weekend and back again. She was fantastic going down and wonderful all weekend long. She sometimes even stole the show from her two uncles - one graduating one with a birthday, but honestly, who would you rather tickle? Unfortunately the drive back did not go so smoothly. Only two hours into the driving and she threw up quite a bit. She hadn't eaten anything and obviously hadn't been feeling well but we had simply thought it was tiredness from a long and overstimulating weekend and maybe nerves knowing we were packing up and going somewhere again. However, by 2pm her fever had shot up to 103. Fortunately the Motrin helped bring that down to the mid 101s and by the evening she was eating mashed potatoes and corn (her choice). She slept pretty well that night and had a hearty appetite the first half of yesterday with a mild fever in the mid 99s.

Unfortunately, her difficulties were not to end there. Following closely on this apparent 24 hour bug, the fever continues in the mid 99s, her appetite almost disappearred and her slobbery drool became the equivalent of Yosemite Falls as she soaked her shirt. We think she is getting her incisors (the really pointy ones). It is a wee bit early for them to break through, but all the signs fit.

So we are keeping her on Motrin to try to keep her as comfortable as possible. Fortunately after the long weekend she doesn't have to leave the apt. at all today. She can hang out, rest and play to her heart's content.

Crayons

Previously, whenever we took Cecilia to a restaurant and she was given crayons, she would simply chew on them and try to turn her lips and teeth different colors.

Today for the first time she got the idea and began drawing on the table! And then bit off the tip of the green crayon. But it is progress.

Hopefully within the next couple of months she will be able to start coloring with all the crayons I've been saving from restaurants! LOL

Beef, It's What's for Dinner!

We have tried numerous times to get Cecilia to eat beef. We've tried plain hamburger meat, hamburger meat with beef gravy, steak and roast all to no avail. The only way we could get beef in her was through a hotdog.

Until today...

She did not turn her nose up at filet mignon. Can't imagine why?

She ate several pieces and was grinning from ear to ear after each one. Well, at least we know she does like beef and hopefully in the future we can get her to like some not quite so expensive steaks as well.

We've Created a Monster

Cecilia keeps repeating her new word, "done," anywhere and everywhere. So much so I began to wonder if she really knew what it meant. I wonder no more.

Earlier today she needed a diaper change but did not want one. As soon as we put her on the changing table we hear, "Done!Done!Done!"

This evening I was trying to trim her nails. I got one completed when I she began fighting me saying, "Done!Done!Done!" In the past half hour I've gotten 2 nails trimmed. I may have to finish after she is asleep.

First Word!!!

Now, Cecilia has been saying "mama" and "dada" for months but we don't know when she began to know who "mama" and "dada were." So we were waiting to hear some other word.

Today Cecilia was having some mac and cheese and peas at lunch. When James saw her mashing more peas than eating them, he asked her, as we always do, "Are you done?" She proceeded to begin eating more peas. So he went to check his email and let her nibble some more. While I was sitting here at my computer suddenly I began to hear, over and over again, "Done, Done, Done." I turned around and sure enough she had stopped eating. I went over to her and asked, "Are you done?" and she said, "done," with arms outstretched for me to get her out! I told James to come hear her first word and we both repeated with her and applauded her and made her say it again and again.

So, discounting the standard "mama" and "dada" (of which she said "dada" first), Cecilia's first word is "Done!" at almost 14 1/2 months.

As promised...

Blessed Paschal Sunday!!!

We all went to 7:30 mass this morning and Cecilia behaved quite well. She spent a fair amount of time simply moving her two books to the floor then back to the diaper bag, then the floor, etc. But she was well behaved overall.

While she napped this morning I cut up small chocolate eggs into 6ths and put the pieces as well as some cookies and cheese crackers into multicolored plastic eggs and "hid" 21 of them around the living room and dining room. When she woke from her nap we showed her where one was and at first she thought it was neat but didn't get the idea. So, we opened it for her and she saw the chocolate. She licked it a few times to see if she would like it. After we showed her a few eggs she got the idea and began finding them herself. She would even collect the eggs into a pile before opening them and every time she found one she lit up with smiles and all sorts of noises. The cookies and crackers wound up in a pile with each piece of chocolate being devoured as she found them (can't blame her there).

We got some wonderful pictures but want to get a few more at dinner tonight with some friends before we upload them. Will post them later.

God Bless.

Update

It has been a while since I updated due to being without a computer and being very busy.

Well, Cecilia's nights have not been any fun - between the teething and weather it has been hit and miss...until last night when she surprisingly and blessedly slept the whole night - from 7:40pm until 6:15am. God bless her.

She has learned how to climb upstairs in a crawl and walking and how to climb down stairs walking as well. She needs someone or something to hold on to, but we are impressed.

She has discovered she loves cucumbers, likes broccoli, loves stair ascending and descending (she does it anywhere and everywhere from the Franciscan Monastery to our apartment building), likes cream cheese and sour cream, loves rice with beef gravy, likes hashbrowns (who doesn't?), loves her new Little Mermaid ball, likes destroying anything mommy or daddy build with blocks, likes Pixar's Cars, and loves Mel Gibson's Passion of the Christ (no we didn't let her watch all of it - just some of the less violent parts, but she was enraptured with those!).

I was looking forward to getting a nice picture of her all dressed pretty for Easter. But, as we expect to have an inch of snow by the end of today, we will have to consider the cold before the cuteness of her outfits and dress her accordingly (esp. as she has outgrown her winter coat and only has a spring jacket).

She does have a couple of Easter Baskets waiting for her (one from each set of grandparents and one from mom and dad) filled with cookies and crackers, a couple of DVDs, two little plush (one bunny and one Jr. Asparagus) some sidewalk chalk, coloring books and crayons she can use this summer (once she stops trying to eat/lick those things), a photo album of the main people she knows that she can have, play with and learn names from, playing/learning cards and other goodies.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Our Poor Little Angel

Last night, after going to bed like any other night, Cecilia awoke and threw up around 7:20pm. She did not have a fever but continue throwing up about every 15 minutes or so until around 1am and then the time between episodes began to increase until her final one at 4:20am. During this time I slept on the floor with her so I could be nearer to her but make it easier to clean her face every time she had to throw up. At 5:30, since she seemed to have stop, I moved her to her crib and she slept a solid two hours.

She did not have a fever all night and has only thrown up once more since 4:20 and we think that was from overdoing it (she had had water, pedialyte and breast milk and was walking around). Since there was no fever, it began almost exactly 2 hours after she finished eating dinner, and there was no apparent lead-in of pain or discomfort to this miserable night, we think it was food poisoning and the only thing she ate we can attribute this to was a newly opened pack of hotdogs - which have now been thrown out.

She is now napping and has been a real trooper. Would that all of us could be such good patients. She has barely cried through any of it and then it was mostly because I was trying to reposition her off her back and wipe her face.

Please whisper a prayer for our little Cecilia as she tries to get back on her feet.

UPDATE: Cecilia seemed to be improving yesterday as she kept down some baked chicken breast and some mashed potatoes but this afternoon she threw up again so I called her doctor and spoke to the nurse. She said it sounds like Cecilia has a gastrointestinal virus (which would account for the little to no fever) and to see how she is in a day or so. She should not vomit after today but the diarrhea is expected to continue a bit longer. Please say a prayer for our little patient.

More Teething

I thought that when Cecilia was crying and stomping her feet and wandering at random this morning she might actually be throwing her first real tantrum. Shame on mommy. We discovered this evening she is actually teething....again. But this time she is getting her first molars. Yikes! Gotta watch out for those choppers!

Atta Girl CECILIA!

YEAH! Last night, for the first time in her life, Cecilia slept the entire night without needing me once! She fell asleep at 7:15 and was content until 5:30 when our alarms went off! Impressivo!!! Let's hope we can repeat it!

Sleepy Cecilia

Well, so far keeping Cecilia in the crib seems to be working. She does not need to eat and last night she slept in her crib from 7:40 until 9 and then from 9 until 4. 4 - 6 was hit and miss, but hey, I can't expect miracles.

YEAH CECILIA!

Well, Cecilia is doing very well. She recovered from her cold just fine and then spent a week pretty much confined to the apartment as everything outside was frozen and icy.

Even though she not even 13 months yet we have had to up her clothing sizes to 18 months as her 12 month clothes were getting too snug. We also had to buy her new shoes as the ones we got her in December were now too small. She does like her new shoes though and has yet to figure out she can undo the laces.

here are a few new photos for you:

Here We Go Again...

Well, it turns out Cecilia does have a cold. We know because James and I both now have it as well. The only difference between us seems to be that neither James nor I have a fever and this morning Cecilia had a 100.7 fever. We thought about calling the doctor but the cold is only on its third day and she had a fever with the last cold and it does go away with Tylenol. So we will see how it goes. In the meantime, we are all taking it easy. One good thing about this illness as opposed to the last one is that at least we all got it around the same time (last time James got it for a week, then me, then Cecilia and it dragged on for almost a month) so hopefully a week from now we will all be fairly healthy again.

Please keep us in your prayers as we all fight viruses, achiness and moodiness together.

Poor Little Cecilia

Well, Cecilia has now had two nights of misery in a row. I admit I do not know if it side effects from her Friday vaccinations or teething or illness but she has been waking a lot crying the past two nights and as of last night has a nose that could run a marathon. Even with Benadryl there is no stopping her runny nose. Add her hatred of having her nose and face wiped with tissues every 15-30 minutes and you get one miserable little Cecilia. She certainly seems to go at her face a great deal and, with getting 4 teeth at once, I suppose it is certainly possible it is simply teething. On the other hand she did get a 4 vaccination combo shot 4 days ago. And again it could simply be a cold though neither James nor I are sick. Regardless she is quite unhappy.

We are expecting 1-2 inches of snow tonight but at this rate she will be unable to play in it tomorrow.

More Birthday Party Pictures

Here is Cecilia with the Angel Bear Father gave her - adorable isn't it?

Here is Cecilia, me and Uncle Jon eatng Bob the Cake (which grandpa said he wouldn't eat if tomato juice suirted out when cut - heeheehee)

Father, Uncle Jon and Grandpa watching Cecilia play.

Cecilia eating her cake on mommy's lap.

One Happy Birthday girl!

Cecilia's First Birthday Party

Well, Cecilia's First Birthday party went well. She was awake and cheerful for almost all of it. She has been playing with her new toys. And she couldn't have wished for a better menu than a crescent hotdog followed by cake! But enough chatter....here are some pictures...

Here is Cecilia's Birthday Cake - it was my home-made attempt at Bob the Tomato (of Veggietale fame). Overall he didn't come out half bad. My biggest difficulty was that the icing turned more pink than red, but oh well.

Cecilia eagerly awaits her cake by gumming her kitchen spoon.

Here is icing face. We hope to get a couple more shots of more pink icing face today or tomorrow as we finish the cake.

Cecilia and Grandpa play with Uncle Jon's gift of Winnie the Pooh Mega Building Blocks. They make great chew toys too!

Cecilia the musician...she loves her baby grand piano from grandma!

Well....

Today on our way to Mass I was a little surprised to find that not only are two of Cecilia's upper teeth descending but at the same time one of her lower teeth has broken through and another lower one is working on it. She is getting FOUR more teeth all at once!!!

Regarding her sleep....

THIS EXPLAINS SOOOOO MUCH!!!!


But boy will she have a mouth full of teeth a month from now - they will double in number!

New Pictures

Just FYI - we added new pictures to her Flickr link below. Enjoy.

One Year Dr. Appt.

Well, Cecilia's one year doctor appt. went very well. She got upset when they tried to measure her head, measure her height, weigh her, check her heartbeat, check her tummy, check her eyes, here ears and her mouth, ... need I keep going? She didn't like being inspected very much.

However...

The doctor said she looks perfectly healthy and, though she has thinned out a bit and dropped a bit in the weight percentile, she has the physiche of a toddler and is as active as any. The doctor was quite impressed with how active she was around the examining room once we got her dressed and put her down - she never stopped, not even when she got near the doctor.

She did get one a shot - her MMRV (Measles, Mumps, Rhubella and Varmicella ["Chicken Pox"]) which cried momentarily and then was fine. Considering everything she was a real trooper and has earned three months without shots. Hopefully there will be no side effects from the vax as this particular one can have side effects anywhere from 1 week to 1 month after getting it.

The office officially measured her at 29 inches and 20 pounds!

Not a First Word, but...

Cecilia likes to make the "quack" sound a duck makes. She first did it about a week ago with me while playing with her rubber ducky in the bath rub and then yesterday she did it numerous times with Grandpa! It basically consists of her holding her mouth open and making a "ah" or "ack" sound, but it is certain what she is doing. So cute, but not quite a first word...maybe first "sound"?

Happy First Birthday Cecilia!!!

Cecilia turned One Year Old today! But I don't think she knows or cares. Oh well, maybe next year she will get it.

Anyway, Cecilia is doing well and has progressed fantastically through her first year. She not only walks like a pro but can even speed walk (almost run) and climb up a single stair (which she likes to practice on boxes she finds around the apartment). She loves to walk laps around the dining room table and roll around on the floor and look at things from every possible angle. She can be quite cranky if she doesn't get her half of a banana each morning (no complaints here) but complains equally as much if she doesn't get some Oatmeal Cinnamon cookies (oh well - they are organic and 10 calories a piece - we should all eat so well). She loves books and although she is still learning not to chew on them, she loves turning the pages. She absolutely loves music of just about every kind and enjoys "dancing" (bouncing) to it. She is a big Veggietales fan but has also liked Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly (she has good taste!) We are still waiting to hear that first word of which she knows the meaning, but she is not behind in this. She babbles and makes sounds all day and we are simply waiting for the day she will surprise us with her first meaningful word.

Her Birthday party will not be until next Sunday, so it may be a bit before we have pictures of that. This Wednesday, however, she will be getting her first portraits done and we look forward to sharing those with you. Cecilia definately has a busy week ahead of her - her 1 year doctor's appt. is on Friday which will, I'm afraid, include a few shots. She is also still in discomfort from teething so please keep our Birthday Girl in your prayers this week.

UPDATE: 1 Year Height: 29 inches (70th %); Weight: 20 lbs 1 1/2 ounces(40th % - what can we expect from a little girl who is on the move from morning til night - I can barely keep up!).

Favorite Book

Lately Cecilia has absolutely adored this book. She will completely ignore poor Daddy at bedtime so as to sooner get to this book. I must say I rather enjoy reading to her each night.

New Favorite Things To Do!

Well, lately Cecilia has picked up three new things she loves to do....

1. She loves to twirl. She will just start spinning in circles in one place until she gets too dizzy to continue. She esp. likes doing this while holding a blanket or towel and see what she hits with it while spinning.

2. She has discovered if she pushes down harder with one foot than the other while she is walking it is louder. STOMP! walk. STOMP! You get the idea. She even tries to do this in the bath tub!

3. Her absolute favorite thing to do now is get on her hands and feet and raise her rump in the air and tuck her head under so she can look at the world upside down through her legs. She does this everywhere. Sometimes I can't resist and put my head down to say hi to her through her legs. She laughs.


Overall her sleeping and eating changes are going very well. She generally does end up in our bed late in the night, but that is after sleeping 6 or so solid hours in her crib and sometimes another stretch after that.

P.S.

Not that our current time of adjustment needs any complications, but Cecilia has Tooth #5 breaking through.

Cecilia with Mrs. Stover

During our Florida trip we visited a friend, Mrs. Stover. She teaches 3rd grade and we stopped by one morning before classes began. We forgot our camera but fortunately she had hers and sent us a copy of the pictures. Below are the pictures she sent and I scanned. You see Cecilia found a little Veggietales Junior Asparagus in her classroom and was ready to take it with her.

Sleeping and Eating

Well, the past week has been VERY busy for Cecilia.

Cecilia had been cosleeping and nursing at will 24/7 pretty much.

We have cut back her nursing to 3 per day and she is doing very well with that although it did take a day or two for her to learn she couldn't pull up my shirt whenever she wanted.

Yesterday she also began sleeping in her crib. She slept there for both naps, which, unfortunately, were only 30 and 40 minutes each, but it is a start. She slept there last night and had the best night she has had in a long while, for the most part. She slept from 6:50pm until midnight, nursed and then slept from 12:30 until 4:24am. This was where it got unpleasant. I couldn't get her back to sleep. I tried for almost an hour and a half both in the crib and in our bed. Finally, with only 4 hours of sleep myself, I gave in and nursed her to sleep in our bed and we all got another hour of sleep. I think tonight we will try putting her to bed a bit later and see if she can make it at least until the 5am hour. We usually get up between 5:30 and 5:45 but 4:24 is too early for a rooster no less us.

Overall she is doing very very well. She cries very little when going to sleep in her crib.

James just recaulked (sp?) part of our bathtub so we are hoping in the next day or two to move her baths out of her little inflatable tub (that goes in the big tub) and just have her take her baths in the big tub. Then she will get to use all her Christmas tub toys!

We have a few videos but I haven't d/led them yet. Will get on it soon though! God Bless! And here's to peaceful sleep.....zzz....

Update

I'm sorry it has been a while since an update.

Three weeks ago, James became ill. The day after Christmas, I became ill. And on New Year's Day Cecilia fell ill. Other than a lingering cough, I am well again. Cecilia's fever has left and her runny nose has improved somewhat but her cough is still strong. James' illness has developed to a bacteria infection for which he is now taking antibiotics. Needless to say this was not quite how we intended to spend the Christmas Season. We are all, however, on the road to recovery.

Unfortunately, all this material evil has delayed the printing of any pictures, the planning of Cecilia's First Birthday Party, some cleaning and chores, etc.

In the meantime, here are a couple of pictures from Christmas...

Here Cecilia and I chat with Fr. Caulfield, a dear friend, at the Cathedral of St. Matthew in Washington.


Isn't she adorable on her new sofa? It folds out to a mini bed too.


Here she is in her beautiful Christmas dress. We will get portraits taken in that dress in a couple of weeks as well.


Here we are again - but this time Cecilia wanted the camera.


Here is Cecilia playing at her very own kitchen


Here is the picture Cecilia's Great Grandma painted for her for Christmas