An Upcoming Adventure...

We have a wedding to go to this weekend in SoCal and Lucy will be staying with my parents in Bakersfield.  After some thought we decided that Lucy and I will take the Amtrak to Bakersfield on Friday and Erik will drive up after work.  Usually the train ride is about 2 hours longer than the drive (6 hrs vs. 4 hrs), but last time we drove it took much longer than usual since we had to stop several times for feeding and changing.  Moreoever, it seems like it would be better to have that time to spend with Lucy instead of driving, right?  We can play, talk, walk around, eat, and sleep whenever we want.  Not to mention the train is much safter than driving.  Even so, I'm not going to lie... I'm a little nervous!  Who wouldn't be?  I'm about 75% sure she'll do just fine, but I really don't want to be that person with the screaming baby.  Keep your fingers crossed for us, and look forward to a future blog report on how she did!

Watch out Amtrak passengers, cuz it's about to get real.

         

Three Months Old!

Why, hello there!

The chubster in her new big girl seat.

Lucy celebrated her three-month birthday this weekend.  (Cue the cliché expressions here)… Where has time gone?!  Everyone says they grow up so fast, but it's really true.  

This age is really fun, and I’m sure it only gets better.  Parts of her personality are starting to emerge and we’re able to interact with each other much more.  To be honest (and I know I’m not the only person who’s ever said this), babies are kind of boring for the first couple of months.  Extremely cute, yes, but not exactly brimming with personality.  They pretty much sleep, eat, and poop, and for a while you’re not sure if they know the difference between you and the next door neighbor.  But at a certain point you start to see that glimmer of recognition in their eyes, and they smile at you, and they start to remember things and express their obvious likes and dislikes.  And you start to realize that you’ve created a person who is just beginning their journey in life and will have their own unique story.  Okay, that’s enough philosophical musing from me!  What do we know about this munchkin after three months?

She’s tough.  If you’ve been following this blog you know that Lucy has lived up to her name as the Littlest Warrior from Day 1 (and even during my pregnancy for that matter).  She seems to take whatever is given to her and deal with it in stride.  When she’s uncomfortable she doesn’t curl up and cry; she fights whatever it is, be it gas, hiccups, exhaustion, or a binky that’s just out of reach, with every ounce of strength she has in her.

 

She’s adventurous.  She tends to get irritable if we’re in the house all day.  She loves going out and seeing new things, and the more there is to take in, the better.  She doesn’t mind unfamiliarity, even if a place is crowded or noisy (this goes for new people as well).  Sometimes we’ll drive and other times we’ll take the bus and subway with her strapped into the Baby Bjorn.  

She’s easily bored.  She requires a lot of mental stimulation.  The same situation gets old quickly.  Each day is a game of musical chairs to keep her entertained.  We’ll hang out in one room, then go to another.  We’ll lay down and cuddle, then I’ll hold her and walk around.  She’ll hang out in the baby swing, then chill out on the play mat for a while.  

She’s intense.  I don’t quite know how to explain it, but she’s got an intense personality.  She seems to be deeply focused on whatever is going on in her world at the moment.  She’s not a grouchy baby, but I wouldn’t call her a relaxed or happy-go-lucky baby, either.  When she’s happy she’s ecstatic, and when she’s upset she makes sure everyone knows it.  Everything in the middle seems to be intense concentration.  

It will be interesting to see if these traits continue to hold as she gets older. Until then, Happy Three-Month Birthday Miss Thang!  Mommy and Daddy love you pretty bad. :) 

 

 

Outdoor Baby

Lucy really enjoys being outside.  Here she is taking in the sights, sounds, and smells of Dolores Park on a sunny afternoon.

We also took her to a "silent disco" at Ocean Beach.  It's a pretty cool idea - you listen to a live DJ through rented headphones so there is no noise, just a bunch of dancing maniacs.  Erik made a little blanket fort to protect her from the wind and sand, and she slept through the whole thing!

(p.s., I think the LW is in the middle of a growth spurt.  She weighed in at 9 lbs, 6 oz today and is just under the 6th percentile!)

I Mean, Honestly.

Growing, Smiling, and Melting Hearts

11 weeks old.

Greetings from the Casa de Lucy!  We’ve had an eventful past few weeks.  Here are some highlights and pics.  

• Lucy passed her 2-month check-up with flying colors.  She got 6 vaccinations which made her feel a little crabby, but she bounced back in about a day.  She’s also gaining weight at a good rate.  A month ago she was off the growth charts; now she’s just under the 5^th percentile.  As of now, the Littlest Warrior currently weighs 8 lbs, 13 oz!  Her belly is also continuing to heal nicely.

Lucy's Special Spot.

• Lucy smiles now and tries to “talk” to us.  All we have to do is smile and say “hi!” to get a huge, gummy grin.  It’s the most adorable thing I’ve ever seen.  She's also doing a lot of cooing and shouting when she gets excited.  Finally some reassurance that she not only knows who we are, but she actually likes us! 

Smiley smiler.

Can you handle it?

• We started supplementing with formula and that is going well.  I was a little worried that her system would have trouble adapting, but we haven’t had any problems.  She still gets all the breast milk I can give her, but we’ll give her formula if she’s still hungry after breastfeeding or if Erik needs to feed her.  
• She is finally starting to sleep for longer stretches at night (thank GOD!!!)  She’ll go to bed around 8:00 pm, wake up around 2:00 am to eat, then go back to bed and wake up around 7:00 am.  She’s been pretty consistent for the past couple weeks.  She also sleeps in her own room now. 
• Lucy actually enjoys bath time now!

Bath time!

The warm-washcloth-on-the-belly trick.  It's a game changer.

A very special bath time helper.

• Erik went back to work last week.  It’s been a little rough because I’m doing all the late night feeds now (we used to split them).  But moreover, it was hard to say goodbye to our days together as a family.  Those 6 weeks really flew by!  But hey, what can you do?  You gotta feed the monkey.  
• The search for child care has officially begun.  We’re looking for a home day care close to our house.  We’ve visited a couple of places and we’re going to try to make a final decision by the end of the month.  Finding child care in San Francisco is NOT easy.  More than a couple of places that I’ve called have wait lists that are over a year long.  And like everything else in this City, it ain’t cheap.
• We’ve had a lot of family visitors, including Grandma Vivian, Papa Al, and Cousins Alex, Krissy, Sue Ann, Ashley, and Andrew.   Needless to say, Lucy charmed the socks off of all of them! 

Proud Grandma Vivian!

Three generations.

Lucy and Grandma Vivian enjoying a snooze.

Papa Al.

Papa Al.

Father and son.

Family pic by the Ferry Building.

Cousin Alex.

Cousin Krissy.

Cousin Ashley.

Cousin Andrew.

Good times at Dad's office.

Being fabulous is hard work.