Precious Time

Yesterday morning at Daycare

I have three weeks, i.e. 6 days, of precious time with Olivia in daycare and me still working par-time.  Today is the first of the 6 days I have to finish off projects from maternity leave and before.  I'm off to a slow start.  Waking up to Olivia doing a little squirming at 7am, we started the day nicely.  But, I forgot her bottles and diapers, thus lost the better part of an hour doing an extra round-trip to KinderCare.  On the other hand, Olivia seemed pretty happy when I dropped her off.

And this morning.... I gave her a tiny taste of banana!  Very first solid!!!

This morning in bed - reaching for toes!

Today at daycare

I really wish we could figure out a way to drop her off a little later than 6:30am on work days and not have to wake the princess up out of her deep slumber at 6:00 am.  It just seems so unfair to mess with her sleep schedule so early in life.  There will be plenty of time for sleep deprivation later. At least I know she goes down for the night around 6:15 (very little time for Kevin and I to see her awake).  What's the point of having a child if you never see her?  All this thinking is making me want to find a better way.  Unfortunately, due to commute time and traffic, it still makes the most sense for Kevin and me to carpool rather than split up drop-off and pick-up schedules.  But something will have to give.  And the cost is ridiculous.  I can totally now see why people who have more than one child take time off of work.  Financially, it's almost a wash!  And, you spend time at a job you may not even enjoy, getting all stressed out, and missing out on the fun stuff.  (New) Age old questions, but now Kevin and I have to figure out our own approach to handling them.

Today I was supposed to clean my desk, and get a good snapshot of our finances together.  I struggled with the scanner for over an hour but finally got it working - success!  Thus the desk-clearing is finally enjoying progress.  But, before finances, I'm going to finally address and send out our New Year's cards (better late than never).  In the meantime, I have to take Kiwi all the way down to the vet for her Lyme vaccine booster.  Loss of at least 1.5 hours there.  Perhaps it really is time to switch to a Fremont local vet.

Oh, I did make the call to schedule LASIK for me, but haven't heard back yet on the date.  That's exciting!  With any luck, I'll get to the finances before bed tonight.

I hope to have some quality time with my little girl and husband in the mix!

Brief Trip Outside, and Observations

While Mom & Dad are fighting some sort of cold (Kate being totally congested and out of it), the 49ers succeeded in winning today against the Carolina Panthers and Mom took Olivia out for a brief walk jsut to get out of the house.  We went to the little neighborhood park and had our first experience on a *real* swing!  Very cute!  Olivia didn't quite know what to make of it.  But she was definitely enjoying looking around at the world.

Not much else happened this weekend.  I've been really feeling icky, so no chores were accomplished, just a little progress on filing music files on the new computer.  If I can concentrate for one more night I might just about finish that project finally!!!  What a relief that will be.  Hopefully any subsequent computer moves will be much easier.  Kevin blames our cold on daycare.  Olivia starts fulltime this coming week.  I'm not super thrilled about that.  I wish part-time was a real option, where the tasks would also actually be part-time.

Still not much rain to speak of.  Oh, check out Kevin's new look :)  Like a ROCKSTAR!

Wearing our replacement Christmas sock from Gma B

Observations:
- Likes to stare at her fingers while she holds hands in front of her and plays eensy-weensy spider, touching each finger with each of the other ones
- Lots of chewing on Sophie the Giraffe
- Reaching for Trixie and Kiwi, and occasionally grabbing some hair/fur.  Dogs tolerating well, and are curious
- Harder to put to sleep at night
- Tending toward one long nap around 10:30.  Not doing much of an afternoon nap, but then again, she goes to sleep fairly early
- Grunts a lot, less babbling/cooing, more grunting of frustration it seems
- Cute smiles and laughing.
- Likes putting cloth books in her mouth, and really just about anything she can get ahold of goes into the mouth.
- Much better at tummy time, but still doesn't really like it.  Can do a great upward-facing dog yoga move!  Mom's jealous.

Starting to Laugh! Trixie losing Teeth :(

Out cute little Olivia is starting to laugh and it's heart-melting!  Little chuckles here and there, BIG smiles when Kevin or I pick her up - all good things.  She passes toys between her hands, still sucks on her left thumb and pulls at things with a purpose!  My favorite part is how much she seems to recognize us.  We received the replacement Christmas sock from Mom Bellenger, and it's adorable of course!

Trixie had 22 teeth pulled on Tuesday!  Poor little girl!  Apparently that's why you have to brush their teeth!  Fortunately, she still has her big teeth, and... I signed up for pet insurance on her which should cover some of the extraction bill.  Trix is feeling much better already and her breath is MUCH better even just a few days after the surgery.  Her tail is wagging and she wants to play tug of war, though we will refrain for another few days.

Olivia starts full-time daycare next week, and I will start full-time work the first week of February.  I am *not* looking forward to that change.  I plan to work on my resume during the days I have in January with Olivia at daycare and to do some of the projects around the house that linger from the start of maternity leave.

Fighting diaper rash

Today I worked a little in the morning, then tried to get Olivia to take a nap with me in bed.  I think you can tell how that went in the photos below!

This weekend should be nice and relaxing.  Tomorrow morning while my eyes are measured for lasik, Kevin will take Olivia to music class.  I'll bet it'll be really fun now with how much more aware she is!  Then we'll have brunch with Megan, Chet and Katy, and finish off around the house, perhaps doing a few little chores.  I'd like to touch up the caulking I did on Olivia's window and perhaps start caulking her crown moulding.  I'd like to get just one room completely done in the house.  That would feel good.  Besides, that window needs to be finished so I can put together the bookshelf that'll go under it (still in my car). :)

Tasty alphabet!

Sunday, we're watching the 49ers playoff game and also doing things around the house.  I may just make it to church for the second week in a row.  I'm thinking it would be good to have Olivia baptized.  Hmmmm...

Oh, last night Kevin commented that he thought we started bedtime routine too early (at 5:15ish pm).  But Olivia slept from ~6:15pm - 5:00 am when I woke her to feed because I was getting worried!  She was a sleepy girl!  Momma was smart though and also went to bed at 8pm!  I could've gone at 7, but that was too much like an old fart!  Actually, I'm still pretty tired tonight so I think it might be about that time...  Nighty Night!

Still Recovering

Very short one today.  I've been wanting to work on the blog everyday but simply haven't had time.  So at least a few minutes is better than nothing...

We had a fabulous Christmas with Gparent Bellenger visiting from MD.  Olivia has really "come into awareness", or as Dad says, "the lights are coming on."  It's fascinating to watch!  She loves her jumperoo from Santa Clause and today was cuter than cute, giving me HUGE smiles and BIG LAUGHS for the first time ever, all whilst wiggling all around in her jumperoo!  So adorable, my heart was melting.  I wish I'd had a little video of it.

Christmas morning - just eggs, no surprise!

We had a quiet Christmas Eve with the four grandparent enjoying Honeybaked ham and various veggies at our nice big table.  We were very busy prepping beforehand, doing last minute Christmas shopping and a little wrapping.  Mom and I both tried to get photo albums done and ordered from MyPublisher in time for the holiday - utter failure.  Mom at least tried to order, but I'm still working on month One of Olivia's first 5 months!  That will be my project in the evenings this first week back at work.

Our big Xmas presents to Gparent B was  a trip to the San Francisco Symphony for a Christmas Carol "sing a long".  It was more of a concert really, with a few "sing a longs" thrown in there to keep everyone awake.  The soprano was fantastic (used to be Christine in Phantom of the Opera), the brass section phenomenal, the organ beautiful, and the orchestral pieces and choir - all GLORIOUS!  We also had drinks at a fabulous trendy bar right across the street from the Concert Hall  - it's nice to arrive at things early/on-time!

We spent Christmas day eve at Rob & Roxanne's, which was lovely, but Princess was a bit tired after her big outing.








The next two days we spend up in San Francisco using the Bellenger timeshare - it was wonderful!  I appreciated being out of the house and not constantly looking at the chores that had to be done (like take down the Christmas tree).  The first night we had delicious martinis at the Top of the Mark on top of the International Hotel.  Gorgeous view!

Two Socks!

The next morning, Mom Bellenger finished Olivia's Christmas socks, and we proceeded to lose one of them within an hour of walking around the city and standing in line for the cable car.  Sadness.  I hear a replacement sock is in the mail!  Joy!  All five of us had a lovely time riding the cable car back and forth from Union Square to Fisherman's Wharf (despite the ~2 hour wait on either end).  Olivia was very well behaved, except when she was hungry.  Then it was time to drop everything and nurse! :)  That's what babies do.

Fascinating book at the diner.

Riding the cable car in the morning

Waiting for the cable car in the evening

New Year's Eve was also quiet - just us at home with a bottle of champagne and a Ploughsman's Board.  Delish!

Otherwise, we've been trying to get some chores done, but it's slow going with our little one around.  Tonight we watched the 49ers win their first playoff game of the post-season.  Fingers crossed!  Tomorrow, sadly, we return to work.  Now that Olivia is so much more interesting, I'm dreading it more than ever.

OK, pumping, then bed time.  We'll see if I do a little better on this blog as the new year begins!

Beginning preps for Olivia's first Christmas

Saturday, Olivia and I attended music class for the first time in a long while.  O stayed awake for the whole thing this time and was fascinated.  We danced all around, sang a few little ditties, all good things.  Afterward, I asked the instructor a few questions and long story short, decided to drop by her brand new toy store in Niles that afternoon.  (Earlier in the am Kevin let me sleep in a little and washed a bunch of bottles. Or was that Sun?  I don't remember.  But I really appreciated the gesture and just that little bit of help)

Aunt Kathy came over around 2:45 to give me a much needed break (Kevin was working) and off I went to the toy store for some successful Christmas shopping, and then to Home Depot for poinsettias.  I love a little holiday color in my cube!  At about that time the boob timer was about to go off so I headed home in anticipation.  Perfect timing!  After I fed Olivia, Kathy helped me dig out my Christmas ornaments from the center of the garage.  That was a two person job for sure, and we partitioned off some goodwill items in the process.  Success!  Then Kathy left and I started the bedtime routine.

Sunday, Kevin finally had a day off.  Megan and I tried to walk with Olivia and the dogs, but ended up returning home to feed O and drop off the dogs.. Too much crying and leash tugging!  We did take a nice long walk just the two of us... So much more relaxing for me to be unfettered for a little while.  Good conversation, gorgeous morning.  Kevin slept in a little.  In the afternoon, we put up Olivia's first house Christmas lights.  I was going to do it myself, then Kevin came out to put up the lights he already had for the house that were the right length.  Olivia awoke halfway through and. Blinded us in the baby. Born.  Fun family moment.

Update - I got everyone sick with the stomach flu and Kevin ended up missing the big 2-week trip because he was home sick when the plane departed from Sunnyvale.  What luck! :)

Recent Olivia Observations

In just the last few weeks, it's been amazing to watch Olivia "come into awareness".

She's recently REALLY located her toes and at every diaper change is grabbing them, cooing and smiling. :)

Olivia grasps the ring in her playgym and in the last two days has been figuring out to pull it to make the music go (at least I think she's figured that out).  Olivia really enjoyed Walter's playgym while we were in MD.  Thanks for sharing, cuz!

She holds objects for longer and really loved investigating her turkey slippers/booties, especially when we were in bed for the day before traveling.  She grasps my neckline or shirt while nursing, and really holds onto your finger if you let her.

Olivia is holding her head up much better and tummytime and doesn't start crying immediately.  She's far more stable when your holder her upright and prefers to be looking over your shoulder or out on the world.

Smiles!
Olivia's smiles are more meaningful and deliberate.  She loves to laugh with you during the morning diaper change. :)  She coos and coos and whoops while on the playgym, and both reaches for the toys above her, and kicks them.

She's started nuzzling my neck when I pick her up from the crib when she's crying.

Olivia now knows "mom" and "not-mom".  She insists on mom nursing her when she's very upset (hm, bad habit?)  Her eyes also follow me like a scary kid in a horror movie as I walk around the room.  A little disconcerting, but adorable at the same time.

Her bedtime routine starts at 5:30pm.  Daycare forced us into that schedule since she's ready for bed as soon as we get home.

In the last day or two, Olivia has really started to 'love' on her soft bunny from Aunt Sarah.

She likes grabbing her blankie and pulling it up to her face (and eating/sucking on it at times).

Olivia sucks her left thumb.  (also very clear change in the last 2-3 days)

Olivia's eyes are still a gray-blue.  Although. Kevin thinks they're green.

Also in the last week  - more spitup and drooling such that outfit changes must occur (for both baby and mother).  Poop explosions up the back of the diaper and all over - also forcing costume changes.

My little Sweet Pea.  I love her so much!  We miss her daddy since he's been working so much.  Fortunately, that will change right before Christmas.  We're working on peek-a-boo and still on tummy time.

Olivia's 4-Month Day, First Turkey Day

Well, life is so busy these days that I just don't get around to the blog as much as I did during pregnancy.  Ironic really, since at that time we were working like crazy on the house.  This will have to be the Cliffs Notes of Thanksgiving in MD.

The Friday before we left for MD, Olivia had her Four Month Checkup and Vaccinations.  She's growing nicely - head in the 90th %tile, height in the 35th %ile (24 inches) and weight in the 9th %ile (11 lbs, 12 ozs).  The doctor said her muscle tone could be a bit better - but can you blame her for having a tough time holding up such a large noggin?!   We are working on tummy time though and she's gotten dramatically better!  After Olivia's appointment, I was a good mom and got a flu shot.  Bad idea.  Within a couple hours I had all the flu symptoms.  My body sure reacts quickly to things - always has.  So, instead of being super productive, I spent the day in bed with Olivia.  We slept, I'd feed her when she woke up, we'd be cranky together, then go back to sleep. :)  Kevin was working.


Kevin's been working his butt off lately.  Some program he works on decided to pull the schedule to the left by several weeks and the result is - ruining holidays for all the transportation folks.  Bummer.


We took the red eye home Sat night to MD, and lucked out that it was a pretty empty flight.  Olivia slept in her car seat in the seat next to the window most of the flight, waking once to feed and again to spit up all over mom.  That came as a surprised since she is not much of a spit-upper.  But, Olivia fell right asleep after her stomach was emptied.

We had forgotten the base to the car seat in the car so had to rent a car seat from Avis - that was way too big for Olivia.  Ooops.  She made just one ride in that seat and Dad was on a mission to buy another base for our car seat.  (After a few false starts we finally found one at Buy Buy Baby!)

It was COLD in MD.  Which I like because it feels like the holidays.  I was sick as a dog the first few days - still recovering from that flu shot and the havoc plane flights always cause to my sinuses.  Mom and Dad Bellenger were pretty sick most of the time we were there, and Annie and Walter had just gotten over something - we were quite the crowd.  Olivia was just over some sniffles, but that jet lag really got to her.  She was Miss Cranky Pants herself all day Sunday since we messed with her sleep so badly.  But eventually she settled in and was showing off with smiles and Coos.

The first several days were spent playing with cousin Walter (he's soooo talll!!!!!) and Aunt Annie.  We chatted with Annie's friend Becca who was pregnant with her second child (and delivered him a day or two after we were home from MD).  I was able to catch up on some much needed sleep.  Olivia slept in the big bed with Kevin and I most night - purportedly because the room was to cold for her to be in the Pack n Play, but honestly because I liked the excuse to snuggle with my little girl and hold her hand.

Walter is a little cyclone developing into the Terrible Two's Tornado!  He's so full of energy, eating constantly (all healthy food, of course... I need to learn that from Annie), playing with every which way toy, following the dog around with a cooking spoon, and just into everything!  Wake up call for Kevin and me.  We have some *serious* childproofing to do around our house before Olivia can get around.  He's so cute with that blond hair and striking blue eyes.

We also had a stream of visitors come over to meet little Olivia.  Aunt Barbara & Elizabeth, Mr & Mrs. Morrisson, then Aunt Barbara again but with Bart the second time.  I'm sure there were more but my brain is tired.

Annie and Walter departed Tuesday morning to beat the Winter Mix home to NY.  They're normal 4.5 hour drive took somewhere around 9 hours!  Yikes!  Major kudos to Annie for handling that journey with a 14 month-old cyclone.  I can't even imagine.  We missed Joel, but he was stuck working and had been traveling a bit so he needed to stay home.

Kevin worked a lot.  Like, a crazy lot.  Sometimes until like 2 or 3 am.  Crazy.

Wednesday we went and picked up the turkey out in rural MD by Olney.  That was a fun adventure.  Dad Bellenger had a stomach bug and the weather was crappy, and I was happy for the excuse to get out of the house and go on an adventure.  While I went in to pick up the turkey, Kevin waited in the car with sleeping beauty (and was making work calls)  As it turns out, the line wasn't long at all.  Very nifty to see all the empty turkey coops / barns with nothing but white feathers remaining and 5 token turkeys for the kids to gawk at as they left with the dead brethren in their hands for dinner Thursday night.  Ironic how the people coo'd at the living gobble-gobbles!  Other preparations occurred, but not the panic that surrounded the holiday as I was growing up - I like the mellower holidays!

Thanksgiving Thursday we watched the Macy's parade here and there, I ironed a tablecloth and set the kids table - standard preps.  Kevin was put on Frisky Sour duty for the actual event.  For context, before we flew out and I warned him of the task, Kevin said, "You talk all about these whisky sours but I don't think anyone actually drinks them."  Well, he learned.  Kevin was a very busy guy mixing drinks, when he wasn't upstairs with me trying to calm Olivia down.  Dinner was delicious... well, what we had of it before meltdown at the table.  Everyone was excited to see the little girl and she was held by all sorts of people.  I was really surprised by how into Olivia cousin Margaret and her boyfriend, Price, were.  Margaret is just like her mom (Barbara) - SUPER good with kids.

The Dunkelbergers and Steins were all there - Kate & Eaton are expecting a little girl in February and little Pete is a cute handful.  Kathryn and Eric are expecting a little one in June.  Babies everywhere!  Very exciting.  We need to get up to Reno to visit Eaton and Kate - it's been far too long!

Friday was recovery day, and the little Janeiro family went off to the National Zoo for a fun little adventure.  It was surprisingly not crowded and quiet at the zoo.  We had fun wandering around while Olivia was back to being Sleeping Beauty.  The highlight was watching a big ol' elephant come into the inside pen, pick up a coconut, carry it and a bag of hay retrieved from a hanging tire over to the corner, step on the coconut until it POPped, eat it, the rip the bag apart and eat the hay from inside.  Very deliberate actions and amazing to watch.  Hearing the male lion roar loudly was also pretty cool.  I'd never seen/heard that before.  We finished off with dinner at a pizza joint in Dupont Circle.

Friday night we mainly chilled with my parents in the family room - the TV was off when we returned from dinner, which I appreciated.  We hung out and chatted about life and mom held Olivia who was smiling away. :)

Saturday morning we left the house at 7:15 to catch our 10am flight home.  I dressed Olivia in one of the outfits Mom had brought out from when I was little and Mom was stoked to see the little girl all dressed up i white.  Pretty cute!  I finally got a picture of both grandparents and Olivia all together!  The flight home was fine - mostly because almost everyone on it was part of a family with small kids.  I did a stellar job of selecting flights, if I may say so myself.  I must be a mom since the flights I picked both had other small small children!  We lucked out again and had the row to ourselves.  Olivia was a little more temperamental on this journey, but I nursed her a bunch and at one point we had her laying down on the center seat, free to kick-kick.  That's when she held a rattler (from Aunt Sarah) the first time for real and shook it around.  Way cool.

I can't remember if Kevin went into work that Saturday, but he definitely went in on Sunday all day.  Crazy.

O.K.  I wrote this much.  I'm sure I missed something, but I'm pooped.  More to come tomorrow while I try and catch up!  Hopefully photos will be added shortly.  I didn't bring my own fancy camera to MD so that cuts down on the number of pics to wade through.