A Mellow Day

 

It was a pleasant morning. We were exhausted from Fiona’s second night of waking every two hours. But, we were also excited. Fiona really enjoyed her wrapping paper and we enjoyed the gifts she got (sippy cups from John, puppets from me, and very nice clothes from her Aunt Cathy).

John loves his new juice press, and picked a few oranges off the tree to test it out. It works well. Fresh squeezed orange juice is the reason I will not drink store bought orange juice or juice from concentrate. He also likes his new phone.

I like my DVDs – Grease and Sex and the City the Movie.

Later, we went for a run with Fiona. This is the second time this week that we’ve taken her out in the BOB and she doesn’t seem to mind. Both times, she fell asleep. This time she stayed awake just a little longer, and took in all the scenery. She fell asleep holding her toy.

Here is Fiona the first time we took her out in the BOB, and now. It was cold, so we bundled her up and put lots of blankets around.

 

 

Love the little bunny slippers! They kept her socks on her feet and were interesting for her to look at/play with.

It’s raining again. We had a delicious meal at my parents’ house and got to see relatives that we don’t often see. Now Fiona is a sleeping and I hope she stays that way for a long time. The only thing I miss from my pre-parent life is sleeping for 8 hours in a row. Right now I would even take 4 hours. I think it is going to get worse. Fiona is making chewing motions with her mouth, constantly eating her hand and drooling buckets, and is a little more irritable and grouchy. Perhaps the teething gods will be kind and let the teeth come in quickly and with as little pain as possible. I think my little munchkin has endured enough pain this year already.

A Video of Fiona Rolling Around

 

This is just a video of her rolling around and playing on her mat. I never get tired of watching her.

Merry Christmas to those who celebrate it! Especially our Canadian Family!

Fiona’s Day Out

 

Today I had my hair cut and styled. While Kristy my stylist was working magic on my locks, John took Fiona to downtown. They went to Starbucks together and then he took her to her very first art gallery. They went to Red Brick Gallery, where we bought a photo that hangs above the bookcase in our living room. John reports that Fiona, who was in her stroller, was very interested in the art works. They looked at different things and she seemed to like the experience. After, they purchased lunch and came to pick me up. Fiona was in a great mood and did not cry at all in the car.

Here is my newly shorn hair. It always looks longer after a hair cut because Kristy straightens it. She also did the Brazilian Blowout, so it should stay frizz free for a few months.

After we came home and ate and played, Fiona took a nap in her crib. I went to the hospital and dropped off a pound of chocolates for the post partum nurses and three pounds of chocolates to the NICU. The chocolates were from See’s of course. I hope they like it.

John read a book to Fiona:

 

This is NOT my cat! I love listening to and watching John interact with Fiona!

Tonight Fiona ate more yam. She really seems to like it. She also drank some water and can sort of hold the bottle up by herself:

Here are photos of our stockings and of the puppets I made for Fiona. I totally messed up the bunny, so she will not be getting that one. Instead, she’ll get just two, the bear that I drew and a dragon that I colored in (no photo of that one).

The messed up rabbit :(

Sad. I thought I did a good job on the head, but the arms came out wrong and when I tried to correct them, the ink smeared. Sigh.

More Fiona Photos

 

Nikki, one of the moms in my Mom’s Group (Ventura County Nursing Mamas) is starting a photography business. She came over last Thursday and took photos of Fiona. Fiona was not cooperating. She would smile only when the camera was down, and her tummy was bothering her. Nonetheless, Nikki got some excellent photos that really capture the essence of Fiona.

 

I love the last one. I wish my hair and shirt were a little nicer, but I just love the look of it.

Already Forming Bad Habits!

Putting her feet up on the furniture (or counter in this case)!

Oh! And she are some yam last night. I expressed some milk into it. She seemed to like it, mostly because she likes chewing on the spoon. But she reaches out for everything we have – cups of tea, water glasses, spoons and forks, news papers, books, you name it. If we handle it, she wants to handle it too, especially if it also goes in our mouths.

Fiona’s First Christmas Tree

 

After weeks of begging and pleading, I finally convinced John to get a real Christmas tree. I figure if we are going to have one, it should be real. We went to a tree “farm” (read: a lot with trees on it) and selected a nice five feet tall Grand Fir.

John played basketball and Fiona slept during the excursion.

We put the tree on the roof of the car:

It was raining. It rained pretty heavily for a week. The tree looks so small in this photo. Fiona continued to sleep. It was the longest she’s ever slept in her seat.

Here it is in our house, before decorations:

Here is the after:

With presents underneath:

John’s idea of putting candy canes on:

 

Note the plastic bag that the cane in wrapped in.

Fiona in front of, and sort of under, the tree:

  

Inching her way closer:

 

 

And when I say inching, I mean that she is trying to crawl. She has not been successful yet, but she gets up on her knees and pushes forward. Sometimes, she gets up on her feet. If the surface is too smooth, she slides backward. She gets frustrated, but works on it every day.

The big box is not for her, it’s for John. Her gifts are to the right. There is a present from her Aunt Cathy and one from John. I am making some puppets to put in her stocking. I’ll take photos when I finish. It’s really exciting to have holidays with a baby. I can’t wait until she is older. We can light Chanukah candles and make Christmas cookies, Hamentaschen, color eggs, eat apples in honey, and more! I never really cared for holidays, but now I am looking forward to them!