16 months!

Dear Violet,

Today you are 16 months old and no longer afraid of spiders....Mama will have to come up with a new child proofing strategy. You are getting to be a good climber too. Not only can you climb up into the kitchen chairs but you can also climb onto your rocking horse and go for a ride. I've almost taught you to say "yee haw", but sometimes you give me a frowny face when I try and make you say it.

You are very in love with your teachers Noemi and Irma these days. You squeal when you see them in the morning and run into their arms. You don't cry when I leave, but when I pick you up you are happy to see me and run into my arms and give me a hug and a kiss. Then you say "go, go!" and we go get your coat. You say "bye" to everyone and wave and blow kisses. I'm so proud of what a nice girl you are.

We are STILL working on sleeping through the night every night. You still seem to wake up sometimes for unknown reasons. Please don't hold it against me forever if I try to let you learn to soothe yourself back to sleep. I promise it's for the best, but it sure is torture when you cry at night sometimes. I still love you lots sweet girl.

-Mama

Cheers!

I told her that she wasn't quite tall enough yet, but she insisted on sitting in a chair tonight to eat dinner.

Thanksgiving in New England

It is really great to have family that you love dearly and get a long with so well....and it's great when they come to visit! It was so nice not to have to travel this year. We had a fantastic feast and a fun filled weekend. It was wonderful to spend quality time with David and Leslie but also with V. We survived my trip to Chicago, but it was hard on both of us. I woke up to her crying in the hotel room...in Chicago....We were very glad to see eachother last Friday.

Greenbuild 2010

I'm going away on a business trip this week - to the Greenbuild conference in Chicago. We presented a vision of sustainable design software there 3 years ago and now we're going back to talk about what we've done to make that dream a reality in the past 3 years. It will be exciting and fun and good to get away and all that, but this time it will also be lots of planning, organization, worry, money and guilt. I'll miss Violet terribly. A lot has changed in 3 years! Here's the part we've been working on most recently and are releasing tomorrow:

Honey Bear

I could watch Violet east toast for hours.

Class picture

Lil Takes The Bronze!

From Bike to Work Challenge

513 miles ridden, 108 trips down Trapelo Road, 446 pounds CO2 saved. Not bad for the new mom category, not bad for any category. I won 3rd place in this year's bike to work challenge! The complex trip + carbon savings algorithm that was employed made it so that my short but frequent rides added up for enough for the bronze! Violet was given an honorable mention for enduring being dropped at daycare 10 minutes earlier every day (and general cuteness) and shared in the celebration festivities last Friday night in Lexington.

15 months!

Dearest Violet,
Today you are 15 months old! We went to the doctor for a check up and you were 26lbs 10 oz and 32 3/4" tall. You're growing so much Mama is going to break her back carrying you around! Suddenly, you are a real little person and I've started to realize that you actually understand some of the crazy things that I tell you. You now know how to go to the book shelf and pick out a story before bedtime. For the last several nights, you've consistently picked out your two favorite books - "Mazy Goes to the Park" with the intriguing pull tabs that animate Mazy doing various things and "Shapes" which has such interesting textures to feel. You get them off the shelf and then back right up without looking and plop your little butt down on my leg to read them. So cute, so trusting!

There have been many developments in just the past couple days. Today you made your first sign with your hands - for "more" - OK, maybe Mommy was also tipped off that this mean you were hungry for dinner by the fact that you were also shaking your high chair and demanding to get in it saying "up! up!" but it is very exciting how well you made that first sign and now I'm encouraged to keep doing more. Just today you also pointed at your nose for the first time in a very cute way when I asked you where it was. Two days ago you learned how to kiss and now you love to lift up your chin, close your eyes and pucker up. It's the best. Kamilah came over for dinner and you puckered up for her, pretty much melting her heart.

Another first, today you successfully put the key in the apartment door lock and took it out again. Mama was very impressed with your dexterity. You've been working up to this for weeks and you were very intent on figuring it out. You are pretty obsessed with anything mechanical including any and every light switch. I'm thinking that a trip to Home Depot might be your ultimate outing. While you are intent on mechanical engineering pursuits, you are also a girl who loves her purses and shoes. You love to carry around your bags and keys and you always try to carry too much just like your mama. You love it when Mama puts on your brown shoes (NOT the black ones) and you say "ssssshhh" while we put them on. You also love to talk on the phone. Every time you pick up something with buttons that could even remotely resemble a phone, you push a couple buttons then hold it to your ear with your shoulder and say "hi!"

You are sleeping pretty well at night and later in the morning - from 7pm often until 7 or 7:30am. Did I mention I love it when you "sleep in"? Sometimes I hear you practicing your "no's" in bed. "NoooOOOOoooo noooOOOoonOOoonOOo no no no no NO" I actually don't think it's a crib protest, you seem to be just practicing your tone and expression so that you can use an appropriate No for all of the No situations that you encounter (a growing number). In the morning when you wake up, you just play in your crib until Mama comes and gets you - such a good patient girl! About once a week you do still wake up at night - like last night when you were up from 2:30am to 3:30am. Mama isn't exactly sure why, but she just takes you under her wing for a while and snuggles with you until you can go back to sleep.

If it's possible to love you more every month, I do.
Love,
Mama

Along came a spider

From 2010-10-30 Along came a spider

Halloween is my favorite holiday and V and I lived it up in a weekend full of parties. I think it may have been more fun for Mamma though- V was a little unsure of the web on mamma's eye when she woke up from her nap, some of the costumes were really really scary and she wasn't too fond of the fuzzy spider legs on her costume either - even if it did include a pink bow! Mamma wouldn't let her have any candy either (she did have plenty of cookies, gold fish and even a cupcake). Next year we will have more experience regarding good toddler costumes and hopefully it won't be so scarry!

Fall in New England

From 2010-10-17

It was another beautiful fall weekend here with lots of time spent outside. Mom was here visiting which as usual was fantastic: "Oh I think I'll do some more laundry." "Now maybe I'll make some beef stew..." We worked on halloween costumes and mom did the sewing. I got 2 rare nights out with no worrying. Of course now I'm completely exhausted.

Time

Most days I feel like we are just trying to get from point A to point B and are always short on time. Yesterday was Columbus Day and daycare was closed. I took the day off and V and I hung out with no plans. It was an absolutely luscious fall day and we were outside most of the day going on walks and we went to 3 different parks. It was so nice to not be pressed for time. V loved walking around the library grounds and walked from the library park halfway back to Maple Ave. We stopped along the way to explore every dog, flower, fence, front yard, passer by ("hi!"), rock, and recycled bottle. Understandably, it took a long time, but it was a rare treat to spend so much quality time exploring the world.

14 months!

Dear Violet,

Today you are 14 months and 3 days old! Mamma is so anxious to take you out and show you the world, she took you on an impromptu trip to Arlington this weekend. Luckily it was a very short flight because it is SO hard to sit still on planes. On the way down there were high winds and the flight was a little rough. You played and played, but then towards the end of the flight you got up into my lap and put your head on my shoulder. I thought you were just being extra sweet and was soaking up such a sweet moment when you turned green and all the snacks and milk that I'd given you exploded out of you like a volcano! I couldn't really go anywhere, so I just held you and breathed through my mouth. Hopefully everyone else was too. Poor little you fell asleep in my arms. I called Grandmommy and Granddaddy and told them that we'd be a little late and they understood. Secretly I think they were laughing a little bit because "that's what kids do" - the payback must be so sweet. It's so enlightening being a parent myself and hearing my parents' stories of when I was a kid with new ears.

After a stinky start, we had a fun weekend in DC. You got to spend all day Saturday with both grandparents to yourself and I got to go down to Charlottesville with my old college friends and watch a football game. I think it was a win win situation for everyone (except the Hoos). You got some quaility grandparent bonding time and new shoes, and I got some quality grown up time. I missed you a lot, but mommies need time away sometimes.

You are such a fun girl these days. You are walking really well now and like to walk much more than you like to be carried. In fact, you often dive out of my arms when you want to walk yourself. I love it when you hold my hand and take me places. You love to carry your purse around and 2 purses are always better than one. Heavy purses are fun too - you always try to carry too much, just like your mom. You are starting to say more words - you can say Mama, hi, dog, woof, (s)quirrel, car and your favorite, "uh oh". You are currently in a good sleeping stretch. You have slept 7-7 the past 6 nights. Five gold stars for you V, it was rough there for a while last month when you started getting up in the night again and woke up really really early too. Please continue this good streak.

I love you!

mom

Weekend Getaway

From 2010-09-13

Violet and I headed south to Plymouth MA this weekend with some of our single mom family friends. There were 5 moms and 6 little girls (including one set of twins) there. It was total pandemonium!! We had fun sharing cute things kids do, strategies for managing solo, and swapping recipes and dating stories. After we finally got all those kids to sleep we had a great meal, a couple glasses of wine and some fantastic belly laughs. The kids liked playing together too and a good time was had by all.

Booboo

This past weekend was absolutely gorgeous in Boston. We spent a lot of time outside practicing walking. Turns out this is a rather hazardous phase. V had her first injury with blood yesterday in the park. She fell flat on her face trying to climb over something and skinned her little nose. She cried a little bit and I tried to wipe off the drop of blood with my finger and a leaf without much sucess. After some hugs she got right back out there for some more practice. It's impressive to see how much patience toddlers have they just keep falling and getting up time after time!

13 months!

Dear Violet,
Today you are 13 months old. How did you get to be a teenager so fast?! Just this week you graduated to the toddler room at daycare where there are more things for walkers like yourself to play with. You also get to go OUTSIDE now at least twice a day and play in the park! There is only one nap a day in the toddler room, but it seems to work because it is quiet and dark and you actually nap better without the commotion of the other babies. I think that you are really liking all your toys and friends there because the last 2 evenings you haven't wanted to come home with me! We have breakfast and dinner together every day now. Sometimes you are more interested in eating with your four teeth than other times but, you LOVE pasta with grandmommy's spaghetti sauce and you still are a blueberry monster. You are definitely starting to form opinions about certain things and sometimes you throw your dinner right onto the floor if you don't want to eat it. You can say a couple words - Mama, uh oh, and doh doh doh when you don't want your diaper changed. You are still pretty wobbly on your feet, but you are an excellent climber and can climb all the way from the sidewalk to our 2nd floor apartment where you know which key opens the lock and always get it ready for me. You love straps and buckles and are constantly trying to figure out how everything works. You also love the park. We went to a new park with some friends on Saturday and you climbed up a whole bunch of stairs to go down the slide. You were so happy that you just smiled and smiled and laughed. It was a very fun day. Mama loves you!
-Mama

A Stroll in the Park

Maybe a little unfair

Baby steps

Violet took multiple steps in a row today. Of course it happened first at daycare, but she was still wobbling around and giggling in front of the mirror, so incredibly proud of herself, when I picked her up. Mom and I had been trying to get her to take some steps yesterday, but yesterday, she was content to use the walker or get down and crawl. Before I know it she'll be running off.

Mom was here this past weekend while I took my own sort of baby steps and went off to Chicago to see my UVA friends. It was really nice to have a break and get away, however, it was also really hard to leave - I honestly missed Violet a lot and being without her felt kind of like I was missing a limb. It was nice to see my friends - we went to some fabulous restaurants including Carnivale and Sunda. Of course, I was so tired and it was hard to stay up late - even for dessert at Hot Chocolate (yum!!), but we had lots of fun and good talks. It was a luxurious trip and I felt kind of like I was visiting my old life. I got a pedicure, did some shopping and went for a long bike ride on the shore of Lake Michigan. I breezed through he airport and read a novel. I was further spoiled by the fact that while I was away, not only did Mom take care of Violet, but she also went to the grocery store, did a bunch of cooking, and did all my laundry. How great is that?! When I got back, Violet was glad to see me, but also definitely in love with her grandmommy, it makes me so happy to have them know eachother so well.

Five!

Hair is growning very rapidly. It's very amusing to find V coiffed at the end of the day, however this time they really hurt coming out :(

Maine

It was so great to have Mom here for the last 2 weeks. The first week she gave Violet (and me) a heavenly break from daycare and the second week we went up to Maine. It was kind of a last minute plan, but it turned out to be a fabulous trip. The weather was fantastic and we had a lot of fun seeing several friends. Our first stop was in Portland Maine at long time friends' Claire and Bill's house. Violet found heaven in their basement toy paradise and played and played while Mom, Claire and I caught up. Bill made fabulous lobster for dinner. Next stop was South Harpswell where we saw our friend Amy and her 8 month old son. We only stayed one night there. Violet was pretty scared of their large yellow lab, but oddly, slept really well there in a strange crib. For our last 3 days, we headed up to Acadia. We stayed in a great cottage right on the water and had a lot of fun just hanging out in the grass and watching the boats. We tried to be strategic about nap time and drives around the park and for the most part it worked well. Violet enjoyed her second mountain summit on Cadillac mountain. On our last day Mom convinced me to go on a horse drawn carriage ride. I was a bit nervous about the fact that it was 2 hours long smack in the middle of morning nap, but we went for it anyway. I was worried that it might be a little like being on an airplane in that you can't really get up....and it was, but V just played and played on the floor of the carriage. After about and hour and a half she stopped moving, and I looked down to find her face planted in her lap, snoozing. I picked her up and she slept the last half hour on my lap - so sweet! The carriage ride must have been some kind of magic because after we went to lunch and let her crawl around in LL Beam for a bit, she slept almost the entire drive home from Acadia - 4.5 hours! We were so amazed and happy that we just kept driving and driving and soon we were home! She must have been tired from the trip as she didn't sleep very well while we were away - often waking up in the night. Consequently, I was very very tired by the end of the trip and returned home with a 101.5 fever. No other real symptoms though and after a few more rough nights, it went away. We're both back to sleeping much better now that we've been home a couple days. Travelling is so fun, but it's definitely tough on sleep issues - apparently even when you don't change time zones.

Here are mom's photos. She's so good about always taking them.

One Small Step

Does that count? Not sure it does...or if it matters. Everything happens so gradually as I've learned over the last year. Our girl is certainly on the go though. She hasn't been sleeping so well at night, so in an attempt to tire her out, I took her to 3 parks today. We (note plural) climbed up the stairs to the slide about 45 times, raced through the tunnel, crawled here and there, pushed the stroller around the park, pushed the stroller down the street, climed up almost all the stairs to the apartment. It worked, we're both completely pooped.

One!

Dear Violet,
Today you are one year old and 5 days. We had a wonderful birthday celebration last weekend. Your Grandmommy and your Uncle David and Aunt Leslie all came into town to see you and help throw a grand party in the back yard. You sure do have a lot of fans, Violet. Your Aunt, Uncle, and Grandmommy came from so far and worked so hard to help me get everything ready for the party - I never could have done it without them. Uncle David grilled hot dogs and hamburgers and Grandmommy and Leslie made 7 layer dip, pita, veggies and hummus, and of course some of your favorites bananas and blueberries. We commissioned your favorite neighbor Sophia to create a happy birthday banner and a birthday cake and she did such a great job. She was also a huge help and came over to play with you while mommy was running around like a crazy person trying to get everything ready for the party. Our guests included friends from our mom's group, daycare, the neighborhood, and friends of mommy's before you were born who all came to celebrate You! We made a huge island of blankets in the middle of the back yard with lots of toys and musical instruments for all your friends. When we sang happy birthday everyone grabbed an instrument and we had a great backyard band. Your uncle David led the singing with his Vuvuzela straight from the world cup in South Africa. You shook your maracas, played with all your friends, shared hysterical giggles and secret jokes with your daycare friends and had a fabulous time. So did Mommy! After you went to bed, we celebrated a little bit more. It was such perfect weather and so so nice to be outside.

You are such a dear girl these days, Violet You love to flash your 3-tooth grin and laugh along with anyone who starts laughing. You are an expert shape sorter and love mowing the sidewalk with your walking woodpecker toy that your Aunt Shelby sent for your birthday. You can stand up all by yourself without holding on to anything and you can cruise around the furniture to get most anywhere. You tend to lunge towards mommy instead of taking steps, but you'll figure out what those feet are for soon enough. You love playing peak-a-boo and have animated conversations with lots of different sounds and words. I'm not sure exactly what they all mean, but we seem to still be able to have great conversations. Your hair is growing longer and curlier every day. When we went to the doctor the other day you were still topping the charts weighing 24 lbs and measuring 31 3/4" tall! Your favorite foods are blueberries, strawberries, yogurt and cheese. You are sleeping pretty well, taking 2 naps most days and sleeping at night from about 7pm to 6:30am. However, you've had a cold the past couple days and have been up more at night. Mommy is very exhausted from staying up with you, so she must sign off now, but she loves you more than anything in the world!
Love,
Mom

51 weeks

Incredibly, we made it 51 weeks without a call to come pick up Violet from daycare due to sickness. When you are in a room all day with 8 other kids who are crawling around on the floor and constantly licking anything and everything they can get their hands on, it's a miracle that they're not all sick all the time. Apparently, lots of the kids are as Violet's teacher says they make sick calls at least once a week. We lasted 51 weeks though, until yesterday. They called me at 3:45pm to say that V had a rash that was "spreading rapidly" and that they though it was Coxsackie (aka Hand Foot and Mouth Disease) that was going around. Luckily, I only had to leave work about an hour early and got an immediate doctor's appointment. The doctor confirmed that the blister on her hand was probably Coxsackie, but that there was nothing they could do about it because it is viral and just has to run it's course. It often is accompanied by fever and one of V's friends had a 105 fever and was really sick for about 3 days. Violet still hasn't had any fever as of tonight though, so I'm not even sure this really counts as being sick. I am so incredibly thankful that my girl seems to have such a strong immune system!

Growing Up

Sometimes it's hard to be the only grown up in this family. Sometimes there are events that call for grown up decisions. It's harder in many ways but admittedly easier in some to make big decisions solo. Last Thursday night, my car broke down... in front of my house, as we were coming home from our day. Smoke started pouring out and it smelled terrible. When I took it to the shop the next day they said not to drive it any more, so V and I headed out to daycare via the bus. Two broken down buses and 2 hours later I was almost home in time for my first conference call. One hour after that, the shop called to tell me that my car would cost a minimum of $2000to fix, perhaps more like $3-4k. ARRR! I had just poured $700 into it 2 weeks before and another $3k was probably more than it was worth. I really didn't want to get a new car yet as that one was still really nice to drive with it's sun roof and heated seats. I can be pretty change adverse and perhaps loyal to a fault and this car had been with me for the past 10 years. Finally, I decided I do really want something more reliable right now and the thought of Violet being stuck in a car with smoke pouring out was just really, really bad.

So after much angst and a couple of calls to my rock of Gibraltar parents who I can always count on for good advice, I decided to start looking for a new car. It was daunting to think about trying to find a car in basically one weekend without wheels to go look for one and with Violet in tow. I started feeling sorry for myself for about 2 seconds before I realized that I was incredibly lucky that I could even afford a new car and then my awesome friends kicked in. Friend one lent me a car for a week because he just happened to be going away that day, friend two agreed to spend a summer Saturday going to car dealerships with me and friend three came over with dinner and wine after a very stressful day of car shopping!

After much Internet research, I ended up finding a car I liked that had been traded in at a Mercedes dealership only 1 mile from my house. The sales guy told me that he had 6 children, but then he didn't help me install the car seat for the test drive...fishy. The dealership tactic seemed to be to keep us waiting for as long as possible to wear us down and keep us from looking at other cars. I was prepared though with an arsenal of toys, food, and diapers. At one point we were negotiating in an un-air conditioned waiting room where I had brought V to feed her her spinach yogurt away from the $300,000 Mercedes on the showroom floor. I was in shorts and they were in full suits with jackets. That's when they offered me $1500 for my broken Jetta site unseen and I agreed to the deal provided I could go drive a newer model for comparison.

Thank god my friend was with me to help me sort through some of the decisions and to stay with Violet in the car while she napped and I test drove more cars. After another 2 hours at a second dealership, we were all so tired that we had to call it quits for the day. After a sleepless night worrying if I was doing the right thing and buying the right car, Sunday, V and I returned to the Mercedes dealer to buy the first car that I'd driven. After another TWO AND A HALF hours of negotiating with V on my lap, eating Cheerios off the show room floor and getting a couple hand prints on the $300,000 Mercedes, I bought a used 2009 Prius. I was proud of myself for remaining cool and collected but not giving into any of their attempts to renege on our agreement from the previous day. I was proud of Violet for hanging in there with me, making me smile by constantly testing out her new 3-tooth giggles and to both of us for not crying a single tear the entire time!

Climb Every Mountain

When a friend suggested a hike last weekend, all I heard was fresh air, exercise, and "Come on! I'll carry her!" If I had thought through the logistics of a 2 hour drive, a 4.5 hour hike, followed by a 2 hr swimming expedition and another 2 hour drive home with an 11.5 month old I would have probably said NFW! But we went and it was great. Violet was a total trooper and lasted the entire day with not a single melt down. I, on the other hand, was pretty grumpy on the start of the hike, not really realizing what I had signed us up for. It was really hot and I and didn't realize that even if a friend was carrying V, I would still be carrying a heavy pack of all of our stuff. I was so out of shape and hadn't slept 8 hours in over a year. Could I even make it up the mountain? Would I be able to take care of V? But I put one foot in front of the other and gradually emerged from my fog of worry and doubt and once we were above the tree line and into the gorgeous vistas and cool, fresh breezes of NH, I relaxed and had a great time and so did V. She loved patting John's back to get him to go faster and reached out to touch all the textures of the different leaves we passed. At the top she tasted some of the loose rocks and ate pieces of her sandwich right off the granite like it was one big huge counter top. I loved that she was able to spend an entire day out in the fresh air. At one point we passed a couple who bounded by us carrying a cooler. They said they were used to doing this hike with their FIVE children and, wow, it was so much faster without them! That kind of put things in perspective. I was very appreciative of my friend John carrying V all that way. I worried plenty during the day that she would get sick of hiking and want to get out of the carrier, but it was great that I didn't have to worry about John falling with her on any of the more challenging steep spots as I definitely would have if I was carrying her. He is a true mountain goat and she was happy in the pack for the whole day only wanting to get out about 100 yards from the car... amazing.

Dreams do come true!

11 months!

Dear Violet,
Today you are 11 months old!  We are at your Aunt Shelby and Uncle Sean's house in Dallas, Texas. You are such a good traveller these days. This makes sense because you are constantly on the go  and love exploring the world. On the airplane you found it quite hilarious to crawl up the aisle and then get dragged back down to your seat. Luckily I don't think you caught any serious diseases from the airplane floor (yet). You even napped for an hour on the plane!  The very, very large man sitting next to us was really kind and let you play with his blackberry. You squeal with excitement these days when anyone lets you examine any electronic device.

When we first got here you would grip my arm for dear life whenever you saw the two large dogs that live here, but now you just stare at them and talk to them in rapt attention as they circle your high chair waiting for tortillas or guacamole to drop. Yesterday you spent your entire afternoon nap time learning how to stand up in your crib. I was resting on the bed next to you as one of my primary goals this week is to catch up on some sleep. I heard some rustling and then a very satisfied little giggle and saw your head poke right out of the top of your crib.  Aunt Shelby says it could be up to 5 months before you'll take your first steps. I think it might be sooner though.  I hope so because you're getting really heavy to carry around girlfriend!  I suspect you're more than 25lbs these days.  Everyone you meet says that they just want to eat you up.  This is somewhat alarming to your mom, however with your big brown eyes and winning smile complete with two teeth who can resist you?

It is such an absolute joy to spend this entire week with you and not have to share you with your daycare teachers.  I bet you may even miss them a little bit though. On Saturday before we left we went to a fancy first birthday party for one of your friends at daycare. When you spotted your teacher Naveed from across the room you nearly knocked your highchair over you were so excited to see her. They sure are helping to grow you into such a nice girl. I love you more than a million billion.

Love,
Mom

Breakfast with Violet

It's hard to ever have a bad day when you start out seeing this face.

Me time

Last Tuesday was my birthday and I decided to take the day off for some me time. The plan was to take V to daycare and then have a nice relaxing day to myself. I had a running list of things that I'd been dreaming about doing for a couple weeks. I kept adding to and reprioritizing my list as it turns out there wasn't really enough time in one day to do everything that I wanted to do. Of course now I know that Moms don't ever really get to take a day off, but I had a great day regardless. As always, flexibility was the key.

Violet, eager to be the first to wish me a happy birthday, woke up at 5am ready to GO! Worried, that she wouldn't get a decent nap at daycare and wanting to go back to bed myself, I decided to sacrifice the yoga class I'd been hoping to make and keep her home in the am so we could have a nice breakfast together and then work in a 2 hour nap. The plan worked and it felt really good to get that nap. Then we got up and dressed and out the door. My modified plan was to go for a walk after I dropped V off. It was such an unbelievably beautiful day though and I was just planning on walking instead of running, so I took her with me on a nice stroll around fresh pond. Finally, I dropped her at daycare at about 11 and then sped off to the mall to do a bit of shopping.

I ran through the mall somewhat crazed, but ultimately successfully fulfilled my shopping list. I had to be home by 1 in time to pump (can't take a break from that!) and shower for my spa appointment. My day was turning out to be pretty hectic with all I was trying to fit in (such hardships, I know), but I did get some quality relaxation time in at the spa where I had a mini-massage and an express pedicure. I picked V up relaxed and with freshly painted toes, took her home and fed her dinner because hanging with her was definitely another thing I wanted to do on my birthday. At bedtime,Violet went right to sleep, happy and content.

Once she was asleep and the babysitter had arrived and was also fed, I met up with some wonderful friends in Harvard Square for dinner. We went to a cool new spot I'd been wanting to check out and enjoyed the gorgeous summer evening. Having had a serious illness and now a child, my perspective on birthdays is that they are very special days to be celebrated and certainly not feared or groaned about. This year will be remembered as one of my best birthdays ever.

While Mommy's away...

The project that I've been working on for the past 18 months - other than birthing little V and growing her to 24 lbs of pure love and joy- is about to be released. Violet, I hope that in the huge section of the time pie that I spend away from you, I can contribute in some small way to making the world a better place for you to grow up in.

10 months

Dear Violet,
Today you are 10 months and 5 days old. I weighed you on the bathroom scale tonight and you were 24 lbs! You are getting very heavy to carry around! Luckily, you are crawling more and more these days. You don't quite have the hang of getting up on your hands and knees, but you can get around pretty quickly when you want to. You really like me to be in your sight at all times and sometimes you get angry if I have to leave the room for a few seconds. I promise, I'll be right back. You love people and to laugh so much that sometimes you don't want to go to sleep at night. The other night when we were in Virginia, you didn't want to go to bed so I let you stay up and you played slap the table with your Granddaddy and laughed for about 20 minutes. It was just what you needed, because you slept well after that. Today you didn't want to take an afternoon nap so I took you down to Riverfest along the Charles River. You looked and looked at all the people and smiled and waved at them. They smiled back. Then you finally got tired, put your arms up over your head and took a snooze right there in the midst of a large dance party. I was so proud of you. You are starting to like to feed yourself more and more. Tonight I made you some cereal with squash and broccoli, but you didn't really like it so I gave you some avocado, tortilla, and banana pieces on your tray which you gobbled right up. You have enough hair now to just fit in the worlds smallest barrette and hints of curls are starting to form on the back of your head. I tell you often, but I'll tell you again that you are such a good girl and I love you very much.
Love,
Mom

A Saturday in Cambridge

Recently, I joined the Donor Sibling Registry because I was curious, but mainly because as I consider a second child (!?!) I wanted to know if there were extra vials of our donor out there and knowing about half siblings seems relevant. There was just one child born to the donor when I first consulted the registry. It turns out that there are now 3 children in addition to Violet born to 3 different moms. One family is a 2 mom family who lives in Salem, Ma and has a daughter a year older than Violet and a son just born in March. The other family is a single mom who actually lives on the next street over from us here in Cambridge (!!!) with a 5 1/2 year old daughter and another baby on the way.

So we all met up on the Cambridge Public Library lawn on Saturday. It was a little odd seeing how much the kids resemble each other and comparing notes with the other moms. Our discussions were a funny mix of talking about kids in general, but also some undercurrents of constantly wondering about the genetic similarities of our kids and piecing together what the donor must be like. The 5 1/2 year old is fascinated with the Simian crease on her left hand and loves the fact that the 2 year old and Violet also have these single lines on their hands. Now I have one of these too (as do 1 in 30 Caucasians) but then Violet has them on both hands --one of the mom's pointed out that perhaps that means she gets it from both sides :). The 2 year old definitely has a similar build to Violet being in the 95th percentile for weight and height and I think really looks a lot like her. It's cool that they're so close in age.

We sat under some trees and talked for a while while the kids played. We joked that it was such a stereotypical Saturday afternoon in Cambridge. Not really what I would have ever imagined.... and who knows how much we'll see each other going forward, but I actually hope we do get together from time to time and will become friends. I really enjoyed talking to all of the moms - they were really nice people and we seemed to have similar values - or at least we share a love of making organic baby food and compost. The 2 moms from Salem actually also used to live in the neighborhood - just around the corner from us the other way. It seems like it would be fun for Violet to have half-siblings around growing up. It would also be nice to have more family since we're already down a couple members and it's great that they're local.

Work Life Balance

I want a bigger piece of the pie

Violet's time in a typical week:

Mother's Day

I was honored to receive a beautiful bouquet of flowers and so many nice cards, texts, and best wishes on my first mother's day. My favorite card was from Sophia and Violet (above). Mom was here and it was great to spend the weekend with her. We did typical mom stuff: grocery shopping, pureed 2 lbs of spinach, cooked a chicken, did 3 loads of laundry, and relished some quality baby giggles and Violet love. Last night we even got to go out together to see a movie! Babies of course!

9 months!

Dear Violet,
Today you are 9 months and 4 days old. We went to the doctor this morning and you weighed 22 lbs and were 29.5" long! You are growing so fast! I am so proud of my healthy strong girl. You are such a joy to be around. You are sleeping all the way through the night now. Sometimes you get up very early - 5:30am or 6am, but it's so light out and there is so much to learn and do! You love to laugh and you think it's especially funny to stick your fingers in my mouth. We go on walks together almost every night after work and sometimes you look up at me and just giggle. You are starting to really like the swings in the park and you definitely love watching the other kids in the park. You still love to roll around and haven't taken off crawling yet, but I'm expecting you to any day now. You seem to still be doing very well at day care with a report of "was happy" most days. When I come to pick you up now, you squeal and bounce up and down when you see me. This is definitely the highlight of my day. You are eating 3 meals a day now and you eat all kinds of vegetables. Tomorrow you are having cantaloupe, yogurt and flax seed for breakfast, squash and cereal for lunch, and sweet potato, kale and an egg yolk for dinner. Every day you are growing more and more hair and you love to have it brushed and then taste your brush. Some times I wish I could just freeze you and keep you small forever, however each new thing you learn is just so much fun.
Love,
Mom

Back on my bike

When I picked out daycare, convenience was pretty high on the list of qualifications. I actually found the Learning Zone because I biked past it every day. I had an idea that I might be able to continue biking to work after little Lil arrived, if daycare was right on my path. Well Friday, inspired by my sister's recent bike trip from Houston to Austin and the gorgeous spring weather we've been having, that dream came true and I got back on my bike! Of course the dream was modified a bit by reality. Dropping V off early and picking her up late gives me less time with her which is not ideal and I almost bailed about a thousand times due to irrational 3am fears about falling off my bike or forgetting one of our bags. I had to carry 2 pumps (breast and tire) on my bike. Kids under one aren't allowed on bikes in MA, so I had to drive to daycare and then bike from there. However, I was able to work around all those hurdles and getting back on my bike for the 4.5 miles of hills between daycare and work felt GREAT! After a year and a half hiatus, all of my old riding instincts came back and I even remembered some of the old pot holes. I could definitely feel that I hadn't been on my bike in a while, but surprisingly I wasn't as out of shape as I feared. I guess carrying around a 20lb baby all the time is somewhat of a workout. Nine miles of biking hills each day definitely counts as good exercise and it just enough of a decent cardio workout. This isn't going to be something that I'm going to be able to do everyday, but I'm so glad I'm going to be able to do it at all! I am going to have to find a better system for securing my breast pump on my bike though. Midway through my ride home, I hear a thud and looked back in horror to see my pumping bag (including a full day's supply of precious milk) lying in the road. Luckily no one ran over it.

Hi!

Scooting backwards

V's starting to get mobile. Watch out!

Music Time

Every Friday at school the music man comes, they say she loves it. I tuned in while on a call on Friday. I think she had a good time although it loses lots without the sound.

Jackpot!

Sophia just took a baby sitting certification course...

Another funny ponytail

Cambridge

When winter ends and the weather is as nice as it's been the past couple days, it always makes me think that Cambridge isn't such a bad place to live after all. We went on another one of our neighborhood walks tonight and saw several neighbors along the way. Violet thinks kids are hilarious and while I was talking to one mom she was just watching and watching her 6 year old daughter and she started giggling hysterically. A giggling baby close to your chest in the Ergo is a pretty great feeling.

I've been impressed with Cambridge for a couple other reasons lately too. Our library, which just opened a fabulous new wing down the street sent Violet a welcome to the world package containing 2 books - one on Global Babies, another book called Let's Play with fabulous photography and a tote bag. What a thoughtful and welcoming gift! Additionally, the Cambridge Police took my stolen wallet seriously and actually went down to Dorchester and Quincy to see if they could match up the security video with my fraudulent credit card transactions. Unfortunately, they didn't have any luck, but the detective who contacted me (via email) was so incredibly nice and I was impressed that they even tried at all!

Happy Easter

It was an absolutely beautiful weekend in Boston and we spent a lot of time outdoors. Saturday we took a run and then met a friend for lunch outside. Easter Sunday we went down to the south shore to celebrate with my friend Suzanne's family. They have a fabulous house on the water and a wonderful family - the 6 and 8 year old granddaughters were very into V. As Violet has a fascination with any and all kids, the feelings were mutual. Violet had a great time dumping the eggs out of her basket. Mommy was left to eat all the candy inside.... Even though we were just with our family last weekend and the weekend before, holidays always make me wish our family was closer.

8 months!

Dear Violet,
Today you are 8 months old! You have been kind of under the weather the last few days and it makes me remember how blessed we are to be so healthy. I absolutely hate it when you don't feel your best. I elevated your mattress last night and turned on the humidifier in your room and you are feeling better today. Since the days are longer and warmer now, we've been going on walks together after work in the Ergo carrier. I like to have you close and I think you like it too. We have good times together looking at the daffodils and other flowers that have sprung up in the past couple days. I think you are becoming a big fan of your mom because you cried when I left you at daycare today. You almost made me cry too! You still don't have any teeth yet, but there's no hurry, you seem to be doing just fine chewing your beloved Cheerios without them. You're not crawling yet either, but again, no hurry, you'll be crawling away from me soon enough. You are really good at sitting up, you talk a lot and you still love to explore anything and everything new - usually with your mouth. You love music and whenever you hear it, you start to bounce and dance. You are fascinated by older kids and love to smile at them. You also love your friends at daycare and are learning to share toys nicely. You've been sleeping through the night more often these days, but I still don't mind when you do want to get up and nurse at 4am. You are such a dear snuggler and when you have some early morning milk, you like to sleep in until 7:30 or 8. I love you more than you could ever know!
Love,
Mom

The good, the bad and the ugly update

The good news is that I had almost my entire wallet contents including 2 $50 travellers checks scanned to PDFs and stored securely in the cloud so it was relatively easy to cancel everything...and I remembered to pay for a new driver's licence before I canceled my credit card. Violet slept from 6pm last night to 7:15am this morning and the dark circles are receding.

The bad news is that I didn't have the wonderfully generous Babies R Us gift card that my choir gave me scanned and I forgot to buy diapers before cancelling my credit card. Violet also "was fussy" today at day care, but who wouldn't be fussy after being ripped off the beach and out of her grandmommy's loving arms and dragged back to rainy 50 degree Boston where it's flooding again....

The ugly news is that my wallet was actually stolen. After dropping me and my infant daughter on the curb at 1am, that smelly farting bastard bought $30 worth of gas with my corporate card in Quincy Ma at 3am! ARgh! At least it seems that's all he's bought so far (?) and at least I can stop looking for the damn thing. I think I can forgive myself for this one.

Travelling

Palm Beach March 27, 2010

We're back in Cambridge after over a week in Florida. We travelled down last Friday for my brother David's wedding in Miami. As she's been on a plane every month of her life except for the first one, Violet was a great plane companion and made lots of friends by smiling and being generally adorable. I love travelling and always dreamed of being able to travel with my daughter. However travelling with an infant is not exactly dreamy. Packing all of the stuff both of us would need for a week is a lot of work. Some of the packing is fun, like trying to decide which of Violet's fantastic outfits we should bring. But packing up all the bottles, the pump, the pump parts, enough baby food for the hotel, and strategizing about how many Cheerios we would need and what bag they should go in gets tiring....and heavy. It's a lot of stuff to keep track of.

To me, travelling is often about trying new things and venturing into the unknown. Both things that are more difficult for an infant who does much better on a set schedule. I tried to manage Violet's need to nap and eat on time with my need to go out and do things and visit with family and for the most part we did pretty well. Managing another (very dependent) person's schedule is even more demanding than managing all of their stuff, especially in a strange place where everything is new. But, we discovered that King beds are fun to roll around on, french fries are good, and hotel cribs are OK to sleep in too. It was definitely nice to be around our family and hang out in the beautiful March Florida weather.

My one real mistake was booking a returning flight that left Florida at 9pm and didn't arrive in Boston until midnight. I thought I would just be able to put V down like normal at 7pm and that she would just sleep the whole time. Well, our girl is wise enough now to know that getting in the car seat means we're going some place and does she like to go! She didn't want to sleep at all. Watching the TSA unpack all our bags and scan her milk for explosives and walking through the airport where there are KIDS is WAY too much fun! Luckily she was a trouper and even though she was totally exhausted and could barely hold her head up, she was still smiling as we boarded the plane. She even charmed the gate agent into giving us a whole row (last row, but still) and letting us take the car seat on board. She did sleep the whole way back on the plane, as did I, however neither one of us slept very well. V woke up just as we started to descend and I figured I'd better nurse her for her ears. By the time we got off the plane from the last row V was awake but pretty limp, hanging on for dear life in the Ergo carrier. All that extra milk didn't sit well and right as I saw our 60lb bag coming out on the carousel, it all came right back up. A lot of it. I didn't really know what to do - we were both totally soaked, but I decided that changing all of our clothes was more than I could handle right then. I just had to do what I could with the towels and blankets that I had and hope that there wasn't a long cab line as it was only 30 degrees in Boston. I was so focused on getting home that I didn't even notice the cold on my feet in soaked flip flops. By the time we rolled onto Maple Ave, I was REALLY in need of a shower as the cab driver kept trying to cover up his ridiculously wretched flatulence with cheap powerful cologne. Didn't work buddy.

I didn't really forget to bring anything that I needed down to Florida and I managed to drag all 60lbs of our stuff back to Boston, but somehow between the cab and my apartment, I managed to lose my wallet. I know I had it in the cab as I paid the guy (and tipped him despite the flatulence), but now that all the bags have been unpacked and stuff put away, it's still missing. Maybe it will turn up when the Boston Police's Hackney Lost and Found opens tomorrow, but I'm not holding my breath.

Violet was a wreck today. After finally getting in her bed at around 1am, she only slept until around 8am this morning. She has big dark circles under her eyes. She wouldn't nap at 10am either. We were supposed to go to brunch at 11am and it was as I was packing up for another outing that I realized my wallet was missing. Instead of just sitting down and crying right along with Violet who wouldn't stop, I strapped her right back in her seat and took her out anyway. It turned out to be the right thing to do. V stopped crying and started smiling and playing when she saw her friends and my dear friends listened to my wallet sob story and gave me some cash. We came home and took a good 2 hour nap and the she crashed for the night at 6pm. So long story, but the journey goes on!

Nor'easter weekend

We've had a bad storm here this entire weekend. It's been raining and blowing like crazy so it's been a good weekend to work on naps. The sleep book I read by Weissbluth a sleep researcher at Norwestern University says that offering your child sleep is as important as offering them good food and I think this is probably very true. He recommends a 9am nap time for a 7-month old baby who gets up at 7am. This always seemed crazy to me - V never seemed that tired at 9am, and it was only 2 hours after she woke up! However, I've been worried that she hasn't been napping enough at day care (usually around 2 30minute naps is all she sleeps!) so I wanted to see if the 9am nap time would help. So I got her up at 7am, we rolled around and played for a while, had breakfast, and then I tried nursing her down at 8:45ish and what do you know it worked! She took an hour nap yesterday and a 2 hour nap today! She went down pretty easily for the 1pm nap too - sleeping another 2.5 hours this afternoon! She had a little bit of a hard time going to sleep tonight, but that's more likely because of daylight savings time.

The all night sleep was unfortunately a one time event. She's back to one waking, however I can't say that I really mind this one waking. It's only for 10 minutes and I know it won't last forever. She's just so dear - I must say that 7 months is quite a sweet age. We're so looking forward to our upcoming trip down to Florida next weekend - it was good to know that better weather is in our future after battling such torrential rains.

"was coiffed"

Look how Violet greeted me when I walked into daycare today! Apparently it was salon day and everyone got their hair done in the tiniest pony tails I have ever seen. Some of the kids had multiple pony tails, Violet just had one. Made Mamma smile.

She did it!!

Well, last night was the night! V slept from 7:30pm to 6:30am! Now that's what I call "sleeping through the night!" I'm so proud of her. Either she didn't wake up at all, or I slept through it (nature's way of Ferberizing?) How come I'm still so tired?

7 months!

How is it possible that another month has gone by already? I guess February was a short, month, but still! Stop growing up so fast dear girl! Sometimes I wish I could just keep you at this stage forever. You are such a joy to be around. Yesterday we spent all day out visiting with friends - brunch followed by a walk and then Sunday dinner and olympics hockey watching. You were such a sweet heart, playing with the other kids and grown ups, playing on your own and with me! You are growing the most adorable little tuft of hair on top of your head - your hair even gets a little messed up sometimes when we take off your hat. Last night you even almost slept throught the night, waking just once for a quick kiss and some reassurance at 2am. Maybe tonight the night you'll sleep all the way through?

3 years out

I went back to Dana Farber today for my 3 year check up and got a clean bill of health. Every year my chances of recurrence get slimmer and slimmer. I have now graduated to yearly scans until year 5 when they'll stop scanning me all together. It was fun to remember being there with Violet when she was just 4 weeks old. What craziness that was! I didn't get quite as good service this time without a newborn, and it's never fun to get poked and prodded and see so many sick people. However, it's always a good reality check to go there and find out that I'm healthy and remember just how lucky I am. Dr. LaCasce (sorry Mom, I didn't get a picture because she was wearing a mask since she was a little sick due to her son's recent conversion from a nanny to daycare) told me that she had recently read a study about how daycare might be good for preventing Lymphoma and Leukemia because it's good for children to be exposed early to childhood diseases to build up their immune systems. Boy did that make me happy. She rocks.

Giggles

FloridAHHHH

We're having a good time down here in Florida. It's so nice to hang out with our family and take a break from the cold, a break from lugging around all the stuff, and a break from the intense food and bottle management. Once again, getting here wasn't any problem - Violet was adorable on the plane -- she slept the entire time in the air and then smiled at everyone the rest of the time. The problem is sleeping once she's here. She's regressed to waking up 3 times a night and I am SO tired again. I've been working remotely this week while Mom has been taking care of Violet. It's been nice because I've had a lot of work to do and it's great to save on commute time and have a little extra leeway on extending my work hours into the evening. Plus, when the stars align correctly, I can nurse her instead of pumping. Violet has gotten reports of "was exasperating" and "was hungry" but I think over all they're having a good time. Here are some pictures:



Link to picassa web album.
Link to more pictures from Aunt Shelby

Mondays

Mondays are tough. It's tough to get out of bed. It's tough to leave Violet after being with her all weekend. It's tough to get all bundled up and it's tough to remember all the stuff. Today I forgot the nipples for the bottles. Luckily a friend who lives near by was able to lend us a bottle for the day and Violet took it fine. Last night I had some friends over to cook and watch the Superbowl. I put Violet down in a pack-n-play in my room so it would be a little more quiet and she went to sleep just fine! In fact, she slept until 4am and only got up once! I was so happy that this worked out because it's nice to have friends over. We made a fabulous Ribollita and drank some wine which made it even harder to get up this morning. Violet, on the other hand, had a good day. When I picked her up tonight, she was very happy, in fact she started giggling hysterically when I put her in her car seat. She made everyone in the room start laughing too! Violet giggling is pretty much the best sound ever. It totally made my Monday.

Got Avocados?

Wednesdays are new food night and bath night. It's a good combination. There is something very satisfying about pureeing an avocado into a super smooth creamy paste. What beautiful food. I think Violet liked it too. Don't worry, she had a bib on, I just had to take it off to show off the ridiculous DKNY lounge wear that I found in one of our hand-me-down boxes the other day.

Violet's 6 month check up when very well today. She's a growing super star at 18lbs and 28 inches and she tolerated FIVE shots very well. I'm very very thankful that we've made it to this point where she can get her flu shots. I took her to daycare after the FIVE shots and was worried she might be fussy (good strategy?) but they said she "was happy"all day. Tough kid!

6 months!

Dear Violet,
Today you are 6 MONTHS OLD! It's hard to believe that you are half way through your infancy. You are growing up so fast. I weighed you today on the bathroom scale and you were 18.5 lbs! You are also growing hair which is so incredibly soft and strokable. You are getting very stable when you sit and you have great posture. You just started eating food and I have introduced you to 4 foods so far : rice cereal, bananas, pears, and yogurt. There are so many more interesting tastes and textures I want to introduce you to soon! You love exploring the world through your mouth- you tend to put everything you find in it these days. We've been looking for teeth in there, but haven't seen any yet. Mornings are your favorite time of day - you always wake up with a big smile and I often find you talking to Violet Bear in your bed. You are almost always "was happy" at daycare and I can tell that your teachers love you. You don't seem like you really recognize me when I pick you up at the end of the day, but other people say that you definitely know who your Mama is. I still miss you a lot during the day while I'm at work. While you aren't a great napper yet, you are very good about going to sleep at night. You like to go to sleep by 7pm, but you don't always like to stay asleep. Maybe you miss me at night? It's OK if you want to sleep more, I'll still be here in the morning, I promise. Every time I pick you up though, regardless of the hour, I kiss your downy hair and nuzzle your soft baby neck and I realize what a sweet, sweet girl you are and how lucky I am to be your mom.
Love,
Mom

Spa Day's Secret Agenda

I secretly hoped that spa day might lead to a good night's sleep. Violet certainly was well fed and relaxed. I often think, (pray, hope) that maybe tonight will be the night that she sleeps all the way until morning. While she had a brief stint at only one waking, lately she's been getting up twice at 1am and 4am, however last night it was back to 11pm, 2am, and 5am.....oyi...I'm starting to notice some dark circles under my eyes. All that rice cereal has stopped that poor girl up and I think she's uncomfortable. I'm introducing prunes next.

Spa Day

It was brutally cold here in Boston today, so I decided it should be spa day. For Violet, this consisted of whole milk yogurt and pureed organic pears followed by a manicure, a full body massage, a bath, and an organic breast milk dessert. For me, it involved yoga, and a beer followed by chocolate cookies made by my mamma. I got a netflix DVD on baby massage and as promised on the DVD, both of us thoroughly enjoyed our massage session. What baby wouldn't want to be lovingly rubbed down with almond oil and what mamma wouldn't relish the chance to thoroughly appreciate those deliciously chubby thighs and lushiously soft skin? Yum!

Bananas

Surprisingly, bananas weren't a huge hit. We'll have to try again another time.

Loved

Baby Violet and I are feeling very loved. Here we are lying on a quilt that my brother-in-law's Mom made by hand - it's humbling to think about all the work that went into making such a work of art! My mom was here this weekend doing some great cooking and baby lovin'. Violet barely cried the whole time she was here. What a change from the last time mom was here. We fed V cereal for the first time on Saturday and she knew just what to do - slurped it down like she'd been doing it all her life. It was a beautiful day on Saturday so we took baby V out for the maiden journey in the jogging stroller. It was a success - V slept the entire hour and a half ride. I wasn't exactly jogging, but the big tires were great on the sidewalks that still have some snow on them. Saturday night, I got to go out to a party which was fun - it felt so good to be out at night again! Violet woke up while I was gone and sucked down 6 oz of milk from a bottle. Mom was sure that she would sleep through the night after that plus all the cereal, but alas, she was up at 1am and 4am like usual. Sunday night I went out again to meet up with a friend for a drink. This time I got back before V's first waking though and nursed her right after I pumped and she slept longer after that (strange, but true). Sunday night it snowed and Mom's Monday morning flight got cancelled so she had to stay an extra day. Lucky us! Monday night V finally decided to skip the 10pm feeding and slept from 6:30pm to 2:30am. Mom pointed out as I fumbled around at 3am that V had slept her first 8 hour stretch! Hurray V! Of course she was up from 2:30am-4:30am, but we'll work on that.

Re-entry

So we're back in Boston, back on Eastern Time, and back to "was happy" at daycare. Violet's teachers were shocked at how much she grew while she was away and were very impressed with her sitting skills. The re-entry hasn't been as bad as I thought it might be given how hard it seemed to be to adjust to California time, but I guess a new place, new noises, and new people aren't thown in the mix. We're also back to the 10:30pm, 1:30am, and 4:30am wakings. I've been pretty obsessed with sleep issues lately -hitting my books and talking to friends. I've been debating wether I should "train" her out of some of her wakings (aka let her cry). It's just so hard to know if she really needs to eat or not. Taking her to daycare and then brining her home and letting her cry dosen't really make me feel so good either. I try to focus on the fact that I should treasure each of these baby days because they go by so fast and that this too shall pass - I doubt she will still be up nursing all night when she's six.

Smile!

Photo Shoot

Back in the middle of November, I had a photographer come and take some pictures of 3.5 month old Violet. It was so hard to keep these pictures a surprise for Christmas. Now that the gifts have been opened and the cards sent out, I can finally share them on the blog - I thought they were such great fun. Here is a link to the Picassa web album. The photographer is Diana Sechrist of Cambridge - she was fantastic!

5 months

Dear Violet,
Today you are 5 months and 3 days old. We are staying with your Aunt Karen and Uncle Joe in Novato, California. It's been wonderful to be out here in the warm sunshine with our family for Christmas and New Years. I haven't been writing much lately, mostly because I've been eating wonderful meals that the family has prepared after you've gone to bed. We've been here for about 2 weeks now and you have already changed so much since we arrived. You fit into 6-12 month clothes now and you've started sitting up. You are still a bit wobbly, but you're getting stronger and more sturdy every day. You've also discovered that you love sitting in a high chair where you can have breakfast at the table with everyone. You eat all of your toys, spoons, and a toothbrush. You've also discovered that you love to drink water from Mommy's glass. Jolie Blon scared you when she barked when we first arrived, but now you are fast friends and she no longer makes you cry.

After narrowly escaping 11 inches of fresh fallen snow in Boston and waiting our turn in long lines at the airport, the flight out here was great - you fell asleep on take off and slept THE ENTIRE 6 HOUR JOURNEY! However, once we arrived, the jet lag was very tough on you and you regressed to waking every 1-2 hours every night. This has been very hard on your mom - I have been extremely tired these last 2 weeks - the most tired I think I've been in the past 5 months. However, last night you slept better than you've ever slept before. It felt horrible to let you cry, but after you refused a bottle at your first waking, I let you cry yourself to sleep and you slept from 10pm to 3:30am! I woke up about 3:15am and was SO HAPPY! So happy in fact that I couldn't sleep! You woke up a short time later and I was happy to feed you. You were a fast eater and when you finished you put your hands above your head in the adorable way that you do when you sleep and you went right back to bed until 7:15am!! I gave you a million kisses when you woke up because I was so happy and felt so rested- I think you did too. Maybe you'll sleep that long tonight? I'll still love you anyway, but I hope you do.

Love,
Mom

You and Me at Glide Memorial Church in San Fransisco Dec 27, 2009