Sleepy Saturday

Maya is a cuddle bug. As I write this (with one hand) she is snuggling on my shoulder. This morning she woke up early, drank some milkie, and then went right back to sleep. She got to sleep in in mommy and daddy's bed; using daddy as her mattress. She spends a lot of time sleeping on daddy. It is now noon and she is still snuggling in and out of sleep.



We saw Cody, Alicia, and cousin Lili this last weekend and after all was quiet at home and everyone had left, Maya started crying- deciding she would like to try being a colicky baby.
After two days trying everything we found a book that Alicia had sent and I had forgotten about (it was stuffed in the closet with all my other baby books) called "The Happiest Baby on the Block" and low and behold it solved our crying/colicky baby problem. Babies (at least this particular baby) like to feel like they are still in the womb so they actually enjoy being wrapped up (swaddled crazy tight) like a mental patient.


So, we wrap her up like a little tuna roll and she stops crying soon after. We also bounce her a lot, and loudly go SHHHHH which mimicks my blood flow when she was in the womb. She doesn't cry as much now and we don't feel quite so desperate and frustrated. Another part of the colic regime is using a pacie. Maya likes the pacie if she can get her lip over the top a little (feels more like her bottle then, we think) and have it rest on mommy's arm while sucks away. I never thought that I would think pacifers were cute, but she sure looks cute (and sounds cute) sucking away.


Maya is working hard at smiling, enjoys looking around at her surroundings more, and has become an Ansel Adams fan. It was a smart idea to decorate the bedroom in nothing but black and white photography because she loves to look at it.

She still cries terribly when she's in her car seat which has kept our little family regularly house bound. But the stroller has been put together so maybe we'll try a walk in the park on this perfect Iowa summer day.

It's Beautiful and So are You

Today, actually in about an hour, Maya has her two week doctor's appointment. She has been sleeping and eating like the rapid little monkey she is. She also has been scratching her face a lot when she eats (mommy and daddy really need to reclip her nails, but are a little afraid because they are so tiny!) so we've resorted back to the dreaded mittens. Maya has also been fussy lately. She'll fuss and fuss and occasionally, the only thing that calms her down, is a boobie. But this lasts for only a few minutes because she uses the boobie like other babies use pacie's. She hates pacie's. So she'll go to the boobie, take a few swigs and either fall asleep or get extremely frustrated because it's not comforting her (it doesn't feel right, she's a tactile baby). But we don't care, at least she spends a little bit of time at the boobie.

One thing I've noticed- we've taken to ending everything in "ie" :

diapie, wipie, kewpie, burpie, poopie, blankie, milkie, drinkie, etc, etc....

Maya makes the cutest kewpie doll face that we've tried and tried to get a good photo of. She's very expressive and we find it hilarious. She also makes dragon sounds which her dad has tried to get her to make into a microphone but she's sneaky and won't play ball. So I like to call her "Dragon". Her favorite song that Daddy plays for her is "Dear Prudence." Which is okay by me.

In visitors news: Chris, Kim, and K'nute came to visit us and we had a nice time with them..except Maya slept the whole time. And trust me, we tried everything to wake her up. I will try to post some of those later...

My First Week

Maya had a squeak of a rough start. She has a very "give me what I want now" attitude about breast feeding, coupled with the fact that she has a very, very hard time waking up. She started out on her birthday at 7 pounds 15 onces, and by the time we left the hospital she was 7 pounds 5 ounces. She was close to the hospitals "can't lose more than 10 percent of birth weight" rule.



It would be time for her to eat, and she wouldn't wake up. I mean, this child can not be woken from her sleep (could it be from the IV drugs they gave me before the epidural guy came? I don't even remember it happening). So we would wake her just enough to latch on, and she'd fall asleep within five minutes. Or, she'd get really frustrated because not enough would come out and she'd say, "What's the point?" shut down, and fall back asleep. One nurse gave me a breast shield, said it would help her. Another gave us a SNS or finger feeder (a little tube hooked up to some boob milk which you attach to your finger and she sucks on it) which we've had to keep using because now she associates the boobies with frusration and sleepiness.



The finger feeder is nice, but I feel like I should be having her at the breast. I have shed tears over it- she's frustrated, mommy is frustrated. So we keep trying, and she keeps gaining weight! The lactation consultant/home visit nurse is wonderful and came back a second time to give me replacement tubes for the breast pump. She told us that some babies will magically latch on a month or two later because it was offered to them everyday. So, we'll see. She also said that Maya now weighs 7 pounds and 11 onces. What a difference a finger feeding makes!!



And mommy is a milk machine. I could sell this stuff they way it comes out. Milk gold.



Now that you know the skinny on that situation, the fun stuff.



Maya loves the sound of birds. She'll be in daddy's lap getting fed and hear them and perk up.

Maya also loves tummy time when her daddy plays the guitar for her. Especially Led Zeppelin...of course. Maya has started to wake up and tell mommy and daddy when she is hungry- this is helpful since all she used to do was sleep and sleep. Maya has elf ears, we think she came from Rivendale. Maya was awake for almost two hours when Allan and Woo came over to visit and ooh and ahh over her. Two whole hours awake! This made for very good sleeping for mommy and daddy. Maya's nicknames so far are: Monkey, Babyboo, Pumpkin, Sweetpea, MayaMy (this are the names mommy calls her). Daddy calls her Babe.



Grandpa Greg and Grandma Peggy came on Saturday and brought a beautiful changing table that Grandpa made. They also bought us a porch swing which the neighbor kids keep trying to climb on. We had a nice visit with them, and took Maya out on her first outing..to Zio Johno's for lunch. She slept, we ate. Shauna and Max came over too. Max seems to really like his baby cousin ("where's my baby cousin, where's my cousin?").



Thanks to everyone who helped out with shopping and visiting at the hospital (thanks for the clothes momma, they have been wonderful). It helped a lot and we're super appreciative of our wonderful families and friends. Just having people come visit keeps us sane. And thanks to all who brought flowers or sent them, I actually had a nurse say, "I'll give you your meds if you give me those roses." Thank you, thank you, thank you.



Hmm, I guess that's it for now. Banana bread in the oven calls to me.