Poopy Baby

Cairo has been poopy all day... and for that matter for half of the night. No, I don't mean poopy like she's been going potty; rather, I mean that she has been crabby. This is what she has been looking like today-

This afternoon, I finally got her to go to sleep for about 3 hours... a much needed nap. All it took was putting on classical music and letting her cry for a few minutes. Her little nap allowed me to get a little yard work done. Here is a picture of the baby after putting music on, a much better baby-

Ah, the trials of parenthood... and this is just the beginning. I see years of fun in the future.

P.S. It is cool and RAINING!!! I love the rain.

The Family

There aren't many pictures of Erik, Cairo, and I. Last night, I snapped a picture of the three of us as Erik was rocking Cairo in the chair. We've had a good day of family bonding today. Erik, Cairo, and I have been hanging out at home all day just enjoying being a family in the house we love and work hard for. Since we have been up north, we have been very busy, so it was nice to take some time just to be together.

Cairo has this great toy we were given at the baby shower. It plays great music, has fun songs that sing about numbers and colors. The sound on this toy is great and there are so many choices to choose from that one doesn't get tired of hearing it. In the past two days, Cairo has spent a lot of time staring at it. She seems most at ease and happy when the classical music is playing. There are rattles andb other fun stuff attached to the toy. She hasn't discovered them yet, but maybe on a few weeks.
At this point in time she will turn herself on her blanket so that she can see the toy.

Firsts

Being a new baby, each day that goes by brings a first experience of something. On Thursday, friends came over for dinner and Cairo had her first girls night- good food, good wine, good gossip, good girl talk (of course Cairo's food and beverage for the night was a mixture of breastmilk and formula). On Friday, Cairo went to her first birthday party. Anut Kyoko turned 26. Cairo pretty much slept all through dinner and missed the candles on the cake (due to a diaper change), but she did get to enjoy dessert... mommy was eating chocolate cake while holding her and spilled chocolate frosting all over her! On Saturday, Cairo got to go to Ferndale for the first time. While in Ferndale, Cairo got to walk the main street in a very nice and comfy buggy. After browsing the main street we headed off to see Great-Grandma Dedini and Great-Grandma and Grandpa Tipple. Today, Cairo had her first real tears when crying. How pathetic! Mommy only set her down so that mommy could blow her nose. (The tears are hard to see in the last picture, but they were coming out of her right eye and dripping towards her ear.)

Here are a few pictures of Cairo... including her cute new shoes from her Aunt Katie B.

3 Weeks!

It is hard to believe that 3 weeks have already passed by. At the same time, though, it seems like ages ago that I was in the hospital having her. I have always heard people say, "They grow up so fast!" and now I believe it. My little monster, as I affectionately call Cairo, is already changing. She's getting bigger, her cheeks are filling out, she's makng more noises (mostly new snorts and grnuts), and she's traching Erik and I her likes and dislikes.

Yesterday, we were practicing new things. First, we practiced holding our own bottle. Her hands are always by her face and she has stong arms and a tight grip. I put her in her bouncy chair, propped up the bottle with a burp cloth, and let her drink. It is hard to see in the picture, but without her hand holding the bottle, it would have fallen to the side. It is one step in the right direction.

The second thing we practiced yesterday was tummy time. Cairo seemed to enjoy the exercise. She worked out her legs (trying to get the up and under her), she worked out her back, and she worked out her neck. She was able to picked up her neck and move it easily from one side to the other. She moved and wiggled a lot on the floor and then she would stop for a break and catch her breath again. It was a good baby workout and we will definitely do it again today.

Back to Bayside

It's been a while since I lasy updated the blog, but we have been busy! (picture-Aunt Kyoko holding Cairo and I am holding Cousin Mei) On Friday, we made the long trip up north to our house in Bayside (Eureka/Arcata area). It's good to be back. Cairo did an amazing job on the long ride north. She slept most of the way and we were able to get away with making only 3 stops. On the way up north, Cairo had the chance to meet lots of family. In fact, in the last five days, Cairo has met all five of her great-grandparents, her Grandma and Grandpa Dedini, her Uncle Nick, Aunt Kyoko, Cousin Mei (only five weeks older), a few of my cousins, my uncle, and both mine and Erik's best friends. It has been quite a week.


Grandma Jill and Cairo-




We are all adjusting well to being up north. Erik and I are trying to get the house put back together after everything had to be moved out to refinish the floors. At this point it seems like the never ending job. When did we aquire SO much stuff? Cairo is getting into more of a routine. She wakes up once in the night, around 2 or 3, to feed, sleeps four to five hours, feeds, takes a morning nap, is awake for an hour or so, feeds, takes an afternoon nap, is awake and looking around, feeds, takes a quick evening snooze, feeds, goes to bed... The following is a picture of Cairo sleeping in her new crib with her glo worm.

Over the past fews days, Cairo has done a better job at taking naps in either her crib, bassinet, or on a blanket on the floor. Before, she wanted to be held the whole time. I think that she finds her bassinet cozy and comfortable. It is the same bassinet that her Daddy and Uncle Nick used when they were babies. Today, we brought the bassinet out into the main living area of the house so that Cairo could be near us as she slept. We put on a variety of music as we were working on cleaning up the house and she just slept away. She seemed to particularly sleep well to Tom Petty, the Rolling Stones, and the Classical Guitar... as well as the humming of our very loud and very old dishwasher. Next picture- Cairo sleeping in her bassinet with her hat falling into her eyes.

Yesterday, Erik and I took Cairo to the doctor's office to have her weight checked. The first week, she lost 8 oz and was down to 6 lb 6 oz. The next week, she only gained 1 oz and we had to supplement all her meals with formula. Well, one week later Cairo made up for lost time by gaining a whole pound in a week. So, we now have a chunky monkey at 7 lb 7 oz. Her face is getting really full (especially her cheeks) and her dad swears she is getting a (how should I spell it) Ba-donk-a-donk (and for those of you who have not heard this, it means a butt). So, she is very healthy and doing great... what more could you ask for.





















Cairo lost her cord at 10 days, but we were waiting to make sure everything had dried up nicely before giving her a real bath. While at Grandma Jill and Grandpa Lee's, Uncle Nick facilitated Erik and I giving Cairo her first real bath. Even though her face got dunked once, she didn't seem to care and really seemed to like her bath... maybe we DO have a little waterbaby/ surfer girl!














Socks on the hands to keep Cairo from scratching her face.












Chillin' in the bouncy chair.











Taking a nap on the quilt Great-Grandma Tipple made.










Asleep and sporting snazzy sunglasses on my best friend Katie's shoulder.

Healing Mommy, Sleeping Baby

So, I asked Erik to update the blog yesterday... you can see the wonderful job that he did.

After getting my kidney stones blasted Friday, I ran a high fever on Saturday. Sunday was a day to mend and Monday our family of three was out and about at various doctor's appointments. I am healing nicely from my c-section... only 6 more weeks and I will be considered healed. I can't wait! Cairo also has an appointment to check her weight. The Monday after she was born her weight had dropped from 6 lb 14 oz to 6 lb 6 oz. We made an appointment for this Monday and found that she had only gained an ounce and a half. Not enough. Due to all the stresses my body has been under, I just don't have enough milk for her- but, I am working on it now that all of my surgeries are over. So, Cairo has to have all her meals supplemented with formula... all the formula that she wants! So, now, we have a whole new baby.

Baby Before: Would not be set down, wanted to nurse all the time, cried often, was up all night = tired and, somewhat frazzled parents (especially at 11-3 am)

Baby After: Happy content baby who sleeps happily in her cradle through the night (except for a feeding) and is wide eyed and happy throughout the day = happy parents who got 8 hours of sleep and a nap

All in all, it seems that we were starving Cairo... at least that is how Erik and I feel. I am slightly traumatized by it all... I know that we weren't really starving her, but she wasn't getting her fill. Now she is and everything is good.

Here are some pictures Erik picked out yesterday and was supposed to post along with his blog.

YEAHH!