Jeff and I just watched Renee pull herself up to standing using the coffee table. Then she let go and stood there all on her own for like 1 or 2 seconds, looking at us with her big goofy smile before falling back on her butt. A few minutes later she did it again, and this time stood for a good 4 seconds :D
Of course we missed it with the camera both times, but I'm sure we'll have plenty of opportunities now that she knows she can do it!
Friday, December 31, 2010
Thursday, December 30, 2010
The Weeks Leading Up to Christmas
Since I haven't posted in a while, I figured I'd give you a quick catch-up of some of the things we did before Christmas. I'll do a post about the holidays soon though, I promise :D
The weekend of December 11 & 12:
We originally had no plans for this weekend, then on Thursday we got invited to our friends last minute birthday party for their son Hayden, who was turning 3. Chris and Katrina (Hayden's parents) rented him one of those giant jumper things, which Renee LOVED!
She also got to play with her friend Aubrey, Hayden's little sister, who is just a couple of weeks younger than Renee.
I had Jeff pose with both the girls so we could do a side by side of how big they've gotten since the last time we were all together back in April.
It's amazing how fast they grow, isn't it!!! Jeff pretty much looks the same though :D
After Hayden's birthday party, we went to my parents house for dinner. And then the next morning we met Jeff's mom for breakfast, so Renee got lots of grandparent time that weekend :D
Later that afternoon she showed some interest in her magnetic drawing board and to my surprise she actually figured out how to draw on it, instead of just sucking on the magnet pen like she usually does. It was really cute!
The weekend of December 18 & 19:
We didn't have too many plans this weekend, so Renee got to spend some time just hanging out with Daddy. She loves to press the buttons on his computer :D
On Saturday we went to Old Sac to have lunch with our friends Marc and Nancy and their sons Koichi and Seiji who were up in our area for the day to get a new puppy.
It was a bit cold and rainy out, but Renee didn't mind!
This picture has no point other than total and utter cuteness...
On Sunday we went to Jason and Jodi's house and Renee got to play with her friends Keira and Jackson. We also did a gift exchange with the kids, so Renee got to practice opening presents before Christmas :D
Other than all the visits with friends and family, the weeks leading up to Christmas were relatively calm (most likely because I didn't make cookies this year!).
The weekend of December 11 & 12:
We originally had no plans for this weekend, then on Thursday we got invited to our friends last minute birthday party for their son Hayden, who was turning 3. Chris and Katrina (Hayden's parents) rented him one of those giant jumper things, which Renee LOVED!
Of course she had to wait until the "big" kids were tired of it before she got to go in, but I'm pretty sure she enjoyed watching them jump in it just as much as she like being in it herself!
She also got to play with her friend Aubrey, Hayden's little sister, who is just a couple of weeks younger than Renee.
I had Jeff pose with both the girls so we could do a side by side of how big they've gotten since the last time we were all together back in April.
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| Aubrey, Jeff and Renee - December 11, 2010 |
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| Renee, Jeff and Aubrey - April 25, 2010 |
After Hayden's birthday party, we went to my parents house for dinner. And then the next morning we met Jeff's mom for breakfast, so Renee got lots of grandparent time that weekend :D
Later that afternoon she showed some interest in her magnetic drawing board and to my surprise she actually figured out how to draw on it, instead of just sucking on the magnet pen like she usually does. It was really cute!
The weekend of December 18 & 19:
We didn't have too many plans this weekend, so Renee got to spend some time just hanging out with Daddy. She loves to press the buttons on his computer :D
On Saturday we went to Old Sac to have lunch with our friends Marc and Nancy and their sons Koichi and Seiji who were up in our area for the day to get a new puppy.
It was a bit cold and rainy out, but Renee didn't mind!
This picture has no point other than total and utter cuteness...
And here is Marc holding Renee (this was the first time they met) and that's his son Koichi over there on the right, playing video games I think.
On Sunday we went to Jason and Jodi's house and Renee got to play with her friends Keira and Jackson. We also did a gift exchange with the kids, so Renee got to practice opening presents before Christmas :D
Other than all the visits with friends and family, the weeks leading up to Christmas were relatively calm (most likely because I didn't make cookies this year!).
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Gross
Renee threw a toy in the toilet for the 1st time this morning.
It normally wouldn't have been too big of a deal, except that we are a "If it's yellow, let it mellow. If it's brown, flush it down." kind of family.
...I threw the toy away!
It normally wouldn't have been too big of a deal, except that we are a "If it's yellow, let it mellow. If it's brown, flush it down." kind of family.
...I threw the toy away!
Friday, December 3, 2010
Crawling - A Video!!!
Renee is getting better and better at crawling every day. I love watching her move around and explore new things in the house, which is pretty much everything other than toys or spatulas :D
I especially love the way she crawls, it's more of a scoot/drag than a crawl really, but it does the job and it's super cute! Here's a video I took of her I took earlier this evening, there's really only good crawling action for the 1st minute, and then she gets distracted by the dogs:
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Santa and a Shot
When I was a kid my mom always took me to the mall to get my picture taken with Santa Claus. I remember really enjoying getting to sit on his lap every year and tell him what I wanted for Christmas, and it's a tradition I want to continue with Renee.
Of course, she has no concept of who Santa Claus is, or even what Christmas is at this point in her life. But, I know she will enjoy looking back at pictures of herself with Santa from every year of her childhood.
So, I got off early today and took Renee to the mall. She did not like the fact that I was handing her to a large, hairy, stranger. And no matter what I or the "elves" did, she would not smile. It didn't help that Santa wouldn't let her get a good look at his face. He thought it would make her cry, and so every time she tried to turn around to see who was holding her he would duck his face down behind her back. This resulted in her just sitting there looking sad and confused! Oh, well, it's still a cute picture.
And without further ado, here is Renee's very 1st picture with Santa Claus, taken at Arden Fair Mall in Sacramento.
After visiting Santa, we went to Sears to pick up our Christmas photo cards. I would show you what they look like, but I'm pretty sure everyone that reads this blog is on our mailing list, so you'll just have to wait :D
After window shopping and snacking on some mall food (Hot Dog on a Stick), we got in the car and drove back to Davis to get our flu shots. I fully expected Renee to cry like she does every other time she has gotten shots, but she just sat there in my arms and looked at the lady like, '"hey, why are you touching my leg lady?".
At this point, a few hours later, it feels like someone punched me in the arm where I got my shot, so I'm sure her leg is sore too, but she's a tough little monkey. Hopefully she doesn't have too bad of a reaction to the vaccine later tonight!!
Of course, she has no concept of who Santa Claus is, or even what Christmas is at this point in her life. But, I know she will enjoy looking back at pictures of herself with Santa from every year of her childhood.
So, I got off early today and took Renee to the mall. She did not like the fact that I was handing her to a large, hairy, stranger. And no matter what I or the "elves" did, she would not smile. It didn't help that Santa wouldn't let her get a good look at his face. He thought it would make her cry, and so every time she tried to turn around to see who was holding her he would duck his face down behind her back. This resulted in her just sitting there looking sad and confused! Oh, well, it's still a cute picture.
And without further ado, here is Renee's very 1st picture with Santa Claus, taken at Arden Fair Mall in Sacramento.
After visiting Santa, we went to Sears to pick up our Christmas photo cards. I would show you what they look like, but I'm pretty sure everyone that reads this blog is on our mailing list, so you'll just have to wait :D
After window shopping and snacking on some mall food (Hot Dog on a Stick), we got in the car and drove back to Davis to get our flu shots. I fully expected Renee to cry like she does every other time she has gotten shots, but she just sat there in my arms and looked at the lady like, '"hey, why are you touching my leg lady?".
At this point, a few hours later, it feels like someone punched me in the arm where I got my shot, so I'm sure her leg is sore too, but she's a tough little monkey. Hopefully she doesn't have too bad of a reaction to the vaccine later tonight!!
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Operation: Get Renee to Sleep
I am tired.
I have been tired for 9 months, 1 week and 2 days. Some days are worse than others of course, but basically, I haven't gotten a good night sleep since Renee was born. Well, that's not entirely true, she slept 9 hours straight on Sunday, November 21st. You might think it's strange that I remember the date, but it was so miraculous that I might just make it into a personal holiday. Most nights though she wakes up every 3 hours and I nurse her back to sleep each time.
Here is a typical night: I put her to bed at 8pm and I go to bed at 9:30pm. She wakes up at around 11pm, 3am and 6am every night. It takes me about 20 minutes to nurse her back to sleep each time, and then another 5 to 10 minutes for me to fall asleep after my head hits the pillow. I stay up after the 6am feeding though. She usually sleeps for another hour or two after that, and I use that time to get ready in the morning.
If you haven't already done the math, I am getting about 7 hours of sleep in a 9 hour period. That might not sound too bad, many people do fine on 6 or 7 hours of sleep, 6 or 7 hours of continuous sleep that is. It's amazing how important that is. My 7 hours is interrupted twice on a good night, and that's not even counting if one of the dogs has to go to the bathroom, which of course is NEVER at a time when I'm already up.
Everyone's advice: "Just let her cry." Well I can't do that. I've tried. It hurts me. Physically. Really, it does.
So, my new plan is to take out one nursing session at a time, and replace it with just holding and rocking her to sleep. This week (or however long it takes her to get used to it) I'm not nursing her when she wakes up at 11pm. My hope is that she just won't wake up at that time any more. If I'm not nursing her, then there's no point, right? Then, when we (really just me) are ready, I'll take out the 3am one, and eventually she will just sleep through the night. That's the plan and I'm sticking to it.
Renee does NOT like this plan! It has only been two nights so far. Both times it took me about 20 minutes to get her to go to sleep; holding strong through her screaming, pushing and back arching, all part of her fight to get her face to my boobs. The whole time telling myself that if I give in and nurse her, then I lose and I will never get a good night sleep, ever again!
Both nights, as soon as I put her down in her bed she woke up and started screaming again. Another 20 minutes of rocking, singing and shushing later and another try at putting her down and she woke up again! The second time though her crying was much less intense, and I was too tired to continue the process so I just let her cry it out, which only took about 10 minutes. I HATE doing that, but I can tolerate it when she's not screaming. If it's just soft crying and I'm completely exhausted, then and only then, can I handle letting her cry herself to sleep. Desperate times, desperate measures, or something like that.
So, wish me good luck in my endeavor to get Renee to sleep longer, and in turn, get more sleep myself. I know my way seems like the hard way of doing it, and maybe not the best, but it's what I'm comfortable with.
I have been tired for 9 months, 1 week and 2 days. Some days are worse than others of course, but basically, I haven't gotten a good night sleep since Renee was born. Well, that's not entirely true, she slept 9 hours straight on Sunday, November 21st. You might think it's strange that I remember the date, but it was so miraculous that I might just make it into a personal holiday. Most nights though she wakes up every 3 hours and I nurse her back to sleep each time.
Here is a typical night: I put her to bed at 8pm and I go to bed at 9:30pm. She wakes up at around 11pm, 3am and 6am every night. It takes me about 20 minutes to nurse her back to sleep each time, and then another 5 to 10 minutes for me to fall asleep after my head hits the pillow. I stay up after the 6am feeding though. She usually sleeps for another hour or two after that, and I use that time to get ready in the morning.
If you haven't already done the math, I am getting about 7 hours of sleep in a 9 hour period. That might not sound too bad, many people do fine on 6 or 7 hours of sleep, 6 or 7 hours of continuous sleep that is. It's amazing how important that is. My 7 hours is interrupted twice on a good night, and that's not even counting if one of the dogs has to go to the bathroom, which of course is NEVER at a time when I'm already up.
Everyone's advice: "Just let her cry." Well I can't do that. I've tried. It hurts me. Physically. Really, it does.
So, my new plan is to take out one nursing session at a time, and replace it with just holding and rocking her to sleep. This week (or however long it takes her to get used to it) I'm not nursing her when she wakes up at 11pm. My hope is that she just won't wake up at that time any more. If I'm not nursing her, then there's no point, right? Then, when we (really just me) are ready, I'll take out the 3am one, and eventually she will just sleep through the night. That's the plan and I'm sticking to it.
Renee does NOT like this plan! It has only been two nights so far. Both times it took me about 20 minutes to get her to go to sleep; holding strong through her screaming, pushing and back arching, all part of her fight to get her face to my boobs. The whole time telling myself that if I give in and nurse her, then I lose and I will never get a good night sleep, ever again!
Both nights, as soon as I put her down in her bed she woke up and started screaming again. Another 20 minutes of rocking, singing and shushing later and another try at putting her down and she woke up again! The second time though her crying was much less intense, and I was too tired to continue the process so I just let her cry it out, which only took about 10 minutes. I HATE doing that, but I can tolerate it when she's not screaming. If it's just soft crying and I'm completely exhausted, then and only then, can I handle letting her cry herself to sleep. Desperate times, desperate measures, or something like that.
So, wish me good luck in my endeavor to get Renee to sleep longer, and in turn, get more sleep myself. I know my way seems like the hard way of doing it, and maybe not the best, but it's what I'm comfortable with.
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