Sounds of laughter

Starring Kacey and Taline

This post was going to be called Goodbye Friends......

As we have packed up the birds and giraffes...





but then it was almost called Just Like Being Pregnant Again because I carried Kacey like this while we were in San Diego.....






but then it was almost called Kacey Better Stop Lifting Her Dress for All the Boys by the Time She is 16! (Aren't she and Dashell the cutest couple ever????) Notice he was trying to take a peek in the first pic but she showed him the goods in the second!





but then this morning this happened......



yes Kacey had a scrunchy, angry face because we were trying to take a picture of this......



HER VERY FIRST TOOTH!!!!!!! ON HER 4 MONTH BIRTHDAY!!!!! My baby is growing up. :( I am excited but so very sad at the same time.....

17 weeks!

Not quite 4 months old yet but she did turn 17 weeks yesterday. She is really starting to enjoy her activity chair. At first she would just flop forward and eat the fabric on the seat. Now she will really look at the things as you move them and sometimes grab them. The things that roll in front of her in the picture, she will even roll those herself!



Here she is in her weekly picture waving hello. She really lights up when you aim a camera at her.



It's hard to tell in the picture but she was really pulling her head forward like she was trying to sit up by herself off of the pillow.



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Thanks for all the comments about sleep ideas and experiences. I never thought that after I got the baby I wanted so bad, I would spend so much of my time wishing she was asleep! She has done much better the last 2 nights so I think that one night was an anomaly and I just freaked out. I know she will have lots of great nights and lots of wakeful nights. One commenter said she just has so many new things going on in her brain that it's hard to sleep. When you think about it, I get that way too.
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My mom and I are leaving at 1pm today to drive down to San Diego. A friend of mine's mother passed away over the weekend so we are going down for the funeral. My mom is coming so she can be with Kacey, I assume I am right that it is completely inappropriate to bring a laughing baby to a funeral. Anyways, we are going down today because it is at 11 am tomorrow. The drive is about 2.5 hours without traffic and gawd knows how long with early morning traffic. So we are skipping it all and going tonight. We got a nice hotel on pr.iceline and so it will work out to be a mini-vacation for my mom. Anyways, wish us luck with the long drive. HOPING Kacey will sleep through most of it.

Calling all commenting mommies

OK, I need your advice, comments, suggestions, experiences, etc.

Kacey woke up Monday morning like usual around 4am. I fed her and laid her in the crib asleep, like usual. Her eyes popped open and she started to smile and talk, not like usual! I tried rocking her, feeding her more, etc. She would fall asleep and as soon as she hit the crib, wide awake. I finally gave up around 5am and left her in her crib talking to herself. After a bit, Jamie went in and rocked her to sleep.

She napped a bit in the morning but then was pretty much awake the rest of the day. She got so overtired that she had her dinner from about 5:15 - 6pm, went down in her crib and was out. It is not terribly unusual for her to be in her crib at 6 but 7 is more normal. Anyways, she then woke up at about 12:30. She normally wakes between 2-4 but since she fell asleep so early I didn't think much of it. I gave her her normal feeding and put her int he crib asleep. BAM, eyes pop open as soon as she hits the sheets. Smiling and talking. I stood there a minute and just waited to see if she would settle. She didn't so I picked her up and rocked her back to sleep. Back in the crib and BAM wide awake again. She wasn't crying, just talking so I left her there and went to bed. After about 15 minutes she started to cry. So back in I went and rocked her again. This sort of thing went on for 1.5 hours. Finally got her asleep in the crib, went to bed, laid myself down and she starts crying. Jamie rolls over and suggests her diaper. Hmmm, I hadn't checked it so in I go. I turn on the light and put her on the changing table. Suddenly it's play time, her eyes light up, she smiles huge and starts giggling as I open up her diaper. I am not talking back and not engaging her at all. Diaper is fine so I turn off the light and try rocking her again. She starts to cry. It's been over an hour since i fed her, she shouldn't be hungry but I try anyways and she eats like she is starving. After about 20 minutes she falls asleep again. I go back to bed. It's now been 2 hours. Jamie rolls over and gives me a squeeze and tells me what a good mom I am. I say thank you and right then guess what happens. Yep, she starts crying.

I completely lost it and started sobbing. You know the kind, exhausted, shaking, sobbing. Jamie asks why I am crying and all I can get out is that I am just soooo tired. I can't do anymore. I tell him I am just going to go shut the door and let her work it out. He says no, he will go rock her. This makes me cry more, he shouldn't have to, he has to go to work in the morning. He tells me I have done enough, 2 hours is enough and I should go to sleep her will take care of her. Sigh....

He comes back about 20 minutes later. He had turned on her white noise (rain sounds) and tried rocking her but she wouldn't have any of it. He had to rock her standing up and she finally fell asleep for good.

She woke up again around 5am, ate and went back to sleep. Awake again at 7am, this time Jamie gets up and plays with her.

She took 2 - 15 minute naps today. Uh huh, that's it. She was tired. All day. We went to the pediatrician and got her vaccinations today and she finally fell asleep on the way home. She was so asleep that I was able to carry her into the house and put her in her bouncy chair in the bathroom where she stayed asleep for an hour.

Tonight she fell asleep for good at 7pm. Hopefully she won't wake until 3 or 4. I plan on going to bed very early just in case.

So is this the 4 month wakeful period I heard about? If so, what are your experiences and how long did it last?

Is she just super excited about starting to really talk and play?

Is she starting to need less sleep?

The doctor checked her gums and said they are a touch swollen so she might be on her way to teething but not immediately.

I have been reading the Healthy sleep book and this all goes against everything in it. I think I will shelve it for a few days!

OK, comment away. Please, pretty please.

more first videos

First off I will make you laugh by poking fun at myself. Yesterday we were about to leave to go to Vanessa's house and I decided to make a quick pitstop. I sat down and CRACK!



OMG!!! How does that happen! Jamie had a field day making fun of me.
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Jamie was playing with Kacey this morning and doing some tummy time. I walked into the hallway to watch them for a second and right then Kacey rolled over onto her back. Jamie was soooo excited! It was more fun seeing his eyes light up with joy and watching him talk about it. He kept going on and on about how neat it was to see her do that and on her second time! YAY!!!
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As I was saying, we went to Vanessa's house yesterday for lunch. We had such a nice time! Jamie got on very well with her husband Adam and Kacey had already been flirting with their son Ellis for weeks now. She really enjoyed holding hands with him although she was dressed a bit too provocatively :)



Here are the dads with the babies, we moms got to eat lunch and take a tour around the house! It was so nice to watch the men with the little ones!



The guys then took them in the pool for a quick dip. Kacey did not like it. The video is pretty funny, she would throw her arms out every time her feet touched the water!




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One last video, this is a pretty good one of Kacey laughing while daddy swings her around in the air. Hope Grandma Marie and Grandpa Jim enjoy seeing Kacey laughing!!

Kacey's first trip to the park!

We got out of the house early this morning so we could go to the park and farmer's market before naptime. Kacey enjoyed her first swing and slide rides!





We then went to the farmer's market and Kacey started to drift off. I was worried about missing the magical moment of sleep so we hurried up. Unfortunately she fell asleep in the carride home. Jamie was able to lay her in her crib but it only lasted a few minutes. I fed her and then put her back in the crib and she stayed there for 30 minutes!! Not sure if she was awake or not but she was quiet. I took a shower and when I got out I heard crying. The fun was over.... but all hope was not lost. We put her in her favorite morning nap place where she ended up sleeping from 10:30 - 1pm.



Yes, she is on the bathroom floor in her bouncy chair with the heat lamp on. This almost always works. What in the world are we going to do when she
grows out of that bouncy chair?

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I was able to get a bit a laugh on video. I had taken her diaper off and was letting her kick freely, she loves this!

Just pictures today

Getting bigger! Perfect picture showing what she loves best, her tongue!



Look mom! I can read!!!

Rollin', rollin', rollin'

Well kind of. Today in our 0-6 month class, Kacey was doing the arch her back into a "C" thing. At one point I pushed her butt a little and she flipped onto her tummy. She sat there for a few minutes doing a push up and looking around at everyone. Side note, she is VERY GOOD at holding her head up while on her tummy. She really loves it and looks at everything! Anyways, her right arm fell out from under her and WHOOP, she rolled over onto her back. She looked very surprised and not quite sure what happened. I told Alex about it when she got to class and she said it counts as her first rollover, so there you have it!

Another first on my part... We left my grandparents house around 1:15 and I was thinking we would be able to get home and try to get a minute nap in before class if we were lucky. On the way, I looked in the rearview mirror and Kacey was out. Well since that was the ultimate goal, I turned the car around and headed to Carls Jr, got myself some lunch, parked in the shade and ate. We then drove around until she woke up about 45 minutes later. So I am now one of those moms that will just drive to keep their child asleep. Great. Seriously, at this point, whatever works!

Look who's screaming....

I think Kacey has found her voice. She gets really fascinated when you point the camera at her so the video is a bit less of the screaming she was doing before I got the camera. You get the idea though.

We are on rollover watch!!! She has been arching her back and creating a big "C" with her body. It really looks like she is trying to roll over. I pushed her little butt to finish the roll and then rolled her back. My mom and I clapped and said "Great job" and she would get a really big smile and even giggle a bit. Tonight she was refusing to go to sleep so I put her in her crib and turned on her rainforest thing. It has lights and plays music. I then left the room and she was doing really well. After about 10 minutes I went to check on her and she was totally trying to roll over, kept arching her back and grunting and then she would fall back. THis went on for a while and I just watched her. Eventually she got really mad and stopped :) I have a feeling it will be any day now.

Another first this past weekend. She got her first cold :( On Sunday morning and all day she had a runny nose and was coughing and sneezing. :( It was heartbreaking! This morning she sounded very congested so we put some saline solution in her nose and used the suction thing. She screamed like we were pouring acid in her nose. It may have helped though because she did not have a runny nose at all today and sneezed a little bit. I thought breastfed babies weren't supposed to get sick though? What the heck?

Non-Kacey related

So I have a little hobby, one that I would like to do alot more. In my grandfathers basement is a woodshop that he and my uncle have been building up in the past 20 or so years. I have worked on a few projects with my uncle and have found that I LOVE it! I love the preciseness of cutting wood and how you have to take an imperfect thing that nature created and try to mold it into something. So far we have made the picnic table in our backyard, various house projects and I helped him build a jewelry box for his girlfriend last Christmas. Right now we have started working on a tv stand for our living room. (Right now we have 2 ugly end tables for the tv and components, can't wait to get rid of those!!!)

So the plans are drawn and the wood is purchased and we have started. On Sunday I began the work on the feet. Tom drew up a template and built a test foot which turned out great. Here are some pics showing off the fun I had!

Woodworking pics - Feet for TV Stand

Week 15 pic

and as a bonus....



Kacey had fallen asleep while eating this morning so we let her stay there. Orangie likes to curl up on our legs so I guess she figured little legs are better than none!

About September 8th..

Well Monday came and went without much notice. It was the day from hell in dealing with Kacey and trying to get her to nap but I completely forgot that it was the day I was scheduled to go back to work after maternity leave. How easily I have taken on the role of Stay at Home Mom and forgotten about work.

I was in the shower thinking about the significance of today being September 11th and you know how the mind wanders, especially in a nice hot shower all by yourself with your husband watching the baby. :) Anyways, my mind thought, "Oh yeah, if this is the 11th then the 8th already happened and if things had worked out differently I would be at work right now." How fortunate I am that I am home instead. I really feel so lucky every day and cherish it. Even days like Monday.

I know alot of you use day care and in about 9 months I may be too so please don't take this the wrong way, but when I look back on Monday I am so glad it wasn't Kacey's first day of day care. She was a mess, crying most of the day and only calming down when she was held. Would day care have done that for her? Probably not, they have other babies to care for too. I know she would have been ok in the long run but it makes me so happy that I was able to be there to comfort her.

Thank you again to my wonderful baby's daddy for giving our family this wonderful opportunity. I will try very hard to never take it for granted.

Colorado.....

So I have really been putting this off. At this point I should just write, we flew, we slept, we saw family, we hiked, we came home. Since the intention is for Kacey to be able to read this later I should do a bit more than that.

When we got to LAX, Kacey was all eyes. She was just so fascinated with everything and was so happy to be there. She was event too busy looking to smile! The flight went really well. I was told to feed her during take off and landing so that she would be swallowing and her ears wouldn't hurt but she wanted nothing to do with eating. She just kept looking all over and smiling some more. She did sleep a little bit but not much.

We arrived in Denver and went straight to Great-grandma Hazel's house, Jamie's brother Dave and his wife Kristie were there too. WOW, what a welcome Kacey got!!! Hazel really seemed on cloud nine. This is her very first great grandchild and the first girl since her own daughter Carol. She has three grandsons, so when Dave and Jamie got married to me and Kristie, Hazel was really happy! But now with a great-grand daughter!!! Oh my!!! So Kacey got all the hugs and kisses she could possibly handle.

We stayed in a hotel that night which went pretty well, Kacey slept perfectly! We then met up with my mom's cousin Cari and her two sons, Matthew and Ryan. They took us to a place called The Egg and I and wow! It was one of the best breakfasts I have had in a long time! It was also wonderful to spend the time with them. I usually see them around Christmas but sometimes not even then.

For the afternoon we went to Jamie's Aunt Sharon and Uncle Cal's house for a family reunion. The place was filled with aunt's, uncle's, cousins, etc. Of course Hazel was there and so was Jamie's dad Jim. Kacey got tons more hugs and kisses but she did eventually get over loaded. This is the time when I really feel like mom. She started to cry and get upset but when I held her she calmed down and resumed watching people. I think that is one of the best feelings ever, not that I want her to cry or be upset, but knowing that I am special to her and can comfort her. It turned out to be a wonderful afternoon too with lots of yummy food and fantastic company!

We then drove up to Jamie's parents condo in Keystone. It's up near Vail and is just so beautiful in the summer. We stayed there until Monday and had a great time hiking, eating, playing Monopoly (which I won!!!) and just hanging out. I think Grandpa Jim especially loved it!

The flight home was pretty uneventful as well. The funny thing was that when the captain came on the speaker, Kacey would giggle. When a stewardess came on she would just look surprised. Another thing to remember, Jamie changed her in the little airplane bathroom and said it wasn't that bad!!!

All in all a fantastic trip! Now that we have Kacey I hope we can make it out there at least once a year and hopefully more.

No matter how hard the day is, I still can't complain.

Last night after a very long day, Kacey started screaming around 6:30 after our walk. I laid down to feed her and she ate for about 5 minutes. She then started blowing bubbles on my nipple and talking to it. She started moving her head away and talking to the ceiling fan and blowing more bubbles. I got up and fixed myself some yogurt and grapenuts (yummy!!) and got on the computer to read blogs. I decided to wait her out until she was done with her soliloquy to the ceiling fan. An hour later I was done reading my blogs and her chatting was slowing and the bubbles were drying up a bit. I lifted up my shirt and laid next to her. She squealed with delight and opened her mouth real big. She ate her dinner and fell asleep by about 8pm.

I was exhausted so I went to bed, read the Healthy Sleep Habits book and then fell asleep about 10. I slept until she woke up about 3am. 5 hours of solid sleep!!! I can't remember the last time I did that!!! It felt wonderful. I think I could have actually been awake for the day at that point as I felt so rested.

Kacey ate and was back in her crib sleeping by 3:20. I was back in my bed asleep by 3:30 and slept until 6:30 when she woke up again. I got 8 hours sleep and only woke up one time. I feel like a new woman today and can handle anything she throws at me!!! Can I really complain about her daytime non-sleep when she consistently sleeps so good at night?

8 HOURS!!! ~ Denver ~ CONTINUED

OK, it is now 2:57 and order is restored in the Kacey household. It isn't according to any book but I am dry eyed and so is Kacey. I have always had weird eating issues where if I get hungry I just can't see straight. I love the show Survivor but I could never go on it. Aside from the bugs, sand, ocean, sun and annoying people, I just couldn't stand the hunger. The rest of the tribe would force a special tribal council int he first 6 hours to declare mutiny and get me off the island, that would be if no one had killed me yet. I just can't stand being hungry. Before my wedding my mom assured me she had backup granola bars with her just in case so I wouldn't have a meltdown before the ceremony simply based on hunger.

Anyways... I put Kacey in the swing and turned it on pretty high, I then turned on the rain sound and turned that up pretty high. I went and made my lunch and then sat near her on the couch and watched an episode of Frasier. She just kept staring at me with those lethargic, "put me out of my misery" eyes. She didn't cry and didn't move just sat and stared as the swing went back and forth. I took my time eating and kept glancing at her. At 2:25 she closed her eyes. I watched her for a minute and they stayed shut. I felt my whole body relax and my shoulders drop. Relief. So she is asleep, not in her crib but at this point I guess I will take it. You couldn't pay me to try to move her!

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Guess who is crying.....3:20. It was nice while it lasted. I'll try to write about Denver tomorrow.

8 HOURS!!! ~ Denver

Still working on this whole nap thing. At 12:26 I laid her in her crib wide awake but oh so very tired. She has a clean diaper and a full tummy. Let's see what happens...

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Last night she had not napped all afternoon and was completely exhausted. She fell asleep by 6pm and didn't move. Jamie and I were able to leave and go on a date! More on that later! Around 2am I woke up rock hard and leaking. I went into her room and she was wiggling a bit but not making any noise. I took a chance and picked her up to feed her. It was either that or writhe in pain until my breasts exploded. She ate in her sleep and went right back down. So that was 8 HOURS! Who knows how long she could have stayed asleep if I hadn't gotten her up? I was relieved but still kind of full and had to get her up again around 5:30. When I laid her back in the crib that time she started talking to herself and chewing on her hand. I went to bed and listened to her babble until I fell back asleep. She must have fallen asleep at some point because when I went to get her at 7am she was whining but clearly groggy from waking up. So somewhere in the 12-13 hour range. See what happens when she doesn't nap?

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OK, she is now making some noises, grunting and whining. It's 12:41.... hmm.. should I go in there? She's not crying... Please just go to sleep Kacey!!! You have not had a nap all morning!!!!

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1:43... I went in an hour ago and tried rocking her for about 10 minutes. I then tried feeding her again and that finally put her to sleep after about 15 minutes. I tried laying her in the crib and she started screaming. The last 40 minutes or so have alternated between me letting her cry for a minute or 2 and rocking her, carrying her, etc. Why won't she just go to sleep? I finally set her in her swing where she is now crying, again. I need to eat lunch. I am absolutely starving and I feel my patience running very thin. I feel like a terrible mom letting her cry but I need to walk away for a second as I am now crying too. I know if I had just held her after she fell asleep eating she would have stayed asleep for an hour or two but I can't keep doing that every day! I can't drive her around to sleep every day as she just wakes up when we are done driving. She needs to take a nap, in her crib for both our sakes. Oh why won't she? I am reading Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child looking for some miracle cure but it keeps saying between 4-6 months. What am I supposed to do in the meantime? I haven't finished the book, maybe the miracle is toward the end somewhere....

I'll finish this post later, I don't think it is going to happen anytime soon.

14 week pic

OK, I still haven't found the time to post about the Denver trip but I did get the pics loaded, the link is over there on the right. I also had time to snap these pics:

Kacey actually sleeping in her carseat in the swing!!! WOW, she slept for over 1 hour in there!



Kacey's 14 week pic, I liked this one the best!



Just now I heard the cat behind me and looked to make sure she wasn't doing anything bad. I found her sleeping amongst Kacey's stuffed animals and toys.

Another first...... 2 posts in one day!

We have this swing. One of the features is that you can take the seat off and put the car seat on it. Today Kacey and I went out to lunch with my uncle Tom. She was very tired and fell asleep in the car seat while we were eating. She woke up on the way tot he car but then fell asleep again in the 5 minute drive home. She was obviously very tired. When we got home she woke up on the walk up to the house. For s^&@s & giggles I decided to plop the car seat into the swing. I turned it on and turned on the sound feature that sounds like water running. She looked at me with sleepy eyes but was clearly on the verge of waking up fully and screaming. I watched her for a minute and then walked away. She didn't make a sound. 5 minutes later I checked and she was sound asleep. That was one hour ago.... still asleep. A miracle maker! This is the best afternoon nap she has ever taken!

Another first

I know I have a lot to write about Kacey's first big vacation but I am short on time at the moment. I do want to get written down a big first she had yesterday and not have it get lost amongst the weekend post.

Yesterday I was taking a shower and she was in her bouncy chair. Every now and then I poke my head out to see what she is doing and if she is asleep. I looked out and she was staring at the dragonfly on her right and flailing her left hand all around. A couple minutes later same thing but really studying the dragonfly on the right. I watched her for a minute and her left hand accidentally grabbed the left dragonfly! It is attached by a tiny piece of velcro so she tugged and it came off. She immediately put it in her mouth, chewed a bit and then let it go. All the while staring at the right dragonfly! Her left hand starts flailing again and grabs onto the butterfly in the middle. It is plastic and has a ring at the bottom that if you pull, it plays a song. So since she had grabbed it she started to pull it and the song started to play! She looked at it and got the biggest smile ever! She continued to pull on the ring to try to bring it to her mouth but it wasn't long enough and doesn't detach. The right dragonfly caught her attention again so she let go of the ring and that left arm started flailing again. She must have grabbed onto the ring and pulled it 4-5 times! Each time she was very excited! When I got out of the shower I hung the left dragonfly back up and within a minute she had pulled it down and was chewing on it. So not only is she reaching, grabbing and putting things purposefully in her mouth but she was trying to do it!

Poor little right arm missed out on all the fun, it sat there clutching her Pooh blanket in excitement the whole time.