08/31/04

Shara and mommy went to Hadley, MA to meet Bubbe, Aunt Jill and cousin Samantha. We had a nice time. Had lunch at Chili's. Shara was great. She looked all around and didn't fuss at all. She then fell asleep when we got into Trader Joe's, and let mommy do some shopping. She woke about mid-way through and just loved looking at everything, then slept for the ride home. It was really nice being able to have her spend time with mommy's family. I know they miss seeing her and don't see her nearly as often as they'd like.

08/30/04

Mommy took Shara to the Daycare to meet her teachers and check the place out. Shara was fine. Mommy had to leave early because she started to cry. It was hard to think about leaving such a little girl with so many bigger kids. She's so easy-going, that she may not "voice" her needs, other than for food. I'm hoping they talk to her a lot and give her the social interaction she loves. Her face lights up when people talk to her and make faces. She's so sweet!

08/27/04

Daddy stayed with Shara for a few hours while mommy went into work. She had 2 bottles, but like the caterpiller, was still hungry! After her shots the day before, she may have needed a little comfort eating. Just like her mom!

She also started something new today - sucking her upper lip. It's really cute. I hope it doesn't cause a blister or bump. She doesn't do it all the time, so she's probably safe. The thumb thing doesn't seem to be working for her. She gets it in her mouth now, but chews on it, rather than sucking.

08/26/04

Shara got her first big group of shots today. She was a real trouper! She cried but as soon as she started eating, she was fine. We gave her tylenol when we got home, and thought she'd go right to sleep, through to the next morning. We were wrong. She went to bed her normal time and woke up her normal time. Nothing unusual. Her mommy was great at the doctor's office, didn't cry at all. At night was a different story. When I changed her diaper, I must have touched the sore spot, because she cried as if she were getting more shots. That's when I cried!

The doctor gave her a good report. Shara's perfectly average! She's in the 50th percentile for weight, height and head size.

08/22/04

Went to Gymboree today. Got some 2T sized clothes for her, since they should last longer than the little sizes. They give great incentives to continue shopping there. I had a 30% off coupon, and they had some things on sale. I spent $50, and got a $25 certificate to use for another purchase of $50 in October. I think the quality is good and they have really cute outfits. Jill used to get a lot of clothes for Liz & Samantha there.

If things remain basically the same, I can say that Shara is now sleeping through the night. We generally put her down between 8pm - 10pm and she sleeps until 7am. If she goes to bed around 8pm, we can expect her to wake around 5:30am to eat. If she goes later, she'll sleep through to closer to 7am.

08/21/04

Our first night out alone! Alan's parents came to babysit and we went to the Old Hitching Post in Hanson. I had a glass of wine and we had a nice dinner. We left 2 bottles, but she only had time to drink one. We were only gone about 3 hours, so I was able to feed her when we got back. They said she was very good. What the means exactly I'm not sure. I'm finding that what I consider good now may be very different from what it was 3 weeks ago. I think most of it is in the eyes of the beholder and how you react to it. She could be crying the same level now as before, but now I know how to handle it, and before I didn't, so she calms down easier now than she did before. Essentially she's better now because of what I do, not that her behavior has changed. I think I'll be fine leaving her at daycare, as long as I feel that they're going to pay attention to her and not stick her in a crib if she cries. I have no problem being away from her for short periods of time, and my workday isn't that long.

08/20/04

Today we went to SAILS to pick up the gymini from Kristin. It's wonderful that everyone is so generous with their clothes and toys. I hope we have someone to give our things to. They use them for such a short period of time, it's a waste if you can't pass the along. I really like the gymini. It's much more stable than the mat that comes with our playard. We have some toys for it already and Shara really loves the windchimes. She also has some bugs that I put on it. She also loves just staring at the different shapes, so we're finding that carrying her around the house is just as entertaining for her. That's also the pose Alan uses to get her to sleep - carries her around the house, laying down on his arm, facing out so she can see what's going on. The moving relaxes her and when she's overtired, it really works.

After SAILS we went over to Kohl's. She was great. Smiling a lot and settling down quickly if she got fussy. I'm also going to buy her some songs sung by children, or a book read by children. Whenever she heard kids' voices, she would smile.

08/19/04

Shara slept again last night - 9pm - 9:30am, waking up at 5:30am to eat and then went back to sleep. It's great. She's really changing so quickly. She smiles at us all the time. Alan thought she laughed, and he's probably right, though she has a lot of work to get it to sound like a real laugh. I was tickling her and she let out 3 sounds while giving big smiles. I bought her a mirrored mobile for over her changing table. She looks all over the place and we want to have interesting things around for her to look at.

08/18/04

Today was a board meeting and demo of some products for the libraries. Debby wanted me to hear the demos so she had Kristin & Claudette watch Shara. Kristin brought her in to be fed, but basically she was good for them. I ended up staying for the rest of the day, since Shara slept for the rest of the day. Made it easy to work with her sleeping. In fact, it's pretty much the only way to get serious work done in any reasonable amount of time. I'm surprised she slept for so long today, since she slept all night as well. I'm not complaining though!

08/17/04

Went to SAILS again to help out with today's training. Shara slept in her car seat for most of the session, waking to eat. It was much more relaxing today since I knew what to expect. I was less stressed and she probably sensed that.

08/16/04

Today Shara put on her business suit and went to work with mom! We had Netlibrary training at SAILS and for the first session, Shara slept for a bit in her front carrier, though she was up for 2 hours during the night. Then she started fussing and we had to go into the other room. The afternoon session went well, since Kristin and Claudette babysat. Everyone was saying that she wasn't loud, but to me she was! I guess we have some real crying and screaming to look forward to when she's older.

08/15/04

Today Kristin and I went out to lunch and had the dad's watch the kids. We weren't gone too long, but it was the first time in a long time I'd been out without Shara. Alan did fine. I don't have a problem leaving him alone with her. He's a great dad and knows her well.

08/13/04

She slept until 5:30am!! She then went back to sleep until 7:30, stayed up for an hour and then had another hour long nap. Up for another hour and now a 3 hour nap. Don't know if she's on much of a schedule, but I like her sleeping through the night. Guess everyone's right and we should be happy that she stays up a little late.

08/12/04

After being up so much yesterday, she slept well at night - Alan got her to bed at 11pm last night and she didn't wake up until 6am this morning. She had a good day, and a little gurggly night. After several burpings Shara went to sleep at 10pm.

08/11/04

Wow, yesterday she slept all day and today she's eating all day! Certainly we're seeing all ends of the spectrum. Could this be the growth spurt?

08/10/04

Saw Little Black Book in Randolph. Shara slept the whole time, and I had to wake her up to eat at about 11am. She also slept most of the day away.

08/09/04

Seven weeks old today.

08/08/04

After stopping at Bruegger's for bagels to go and to meet Shara's cousin Billy, we headed on home. The trip was uneventful and we only stopped once to feed Shara.

08/07/04

Shara's big Welcome Party! Almost everyone came and all went well. Shara was so great! She let everyone hold her and only cried when she was hungry. She looked so cute! It was wonderful to see so many friends and family and be together in one place. Of course it made me wish that we all lived closer together, but not being close makes the times together that much more special. Many thanks to Jill and the Lookers for making their home available and so inviting.

08/06/04

Tonight we're leaving for Schenectady for Shara's party! It's taken me 10x longer to get anything done. I killed my knee when trying to calm Shara down with a yoga pose I just learned. Didn't remember to sit back on my heals and put all my weight on my knee. Couldn't kneel down after that, which made holding her while trying to pack difficult. She was playing the needy baby today - wanting to be held. Can't blame her - think it's the continuation of the growth spurt. Did manager to get everything done and Shara slept all the way to Bubbe's. Only woke up for me to feed her in the Jumpin' Jacks parking lot! 7 weeks isn't too young to have her first meal at Jumpin' Jacks!

Shara slept in her playdome, with us, in mom's office. I knew she made a lot of noise at night, but having her right there was a lot different than hearing her through the monitor. I don't know if I slept 3 hours!

08/05/04

Shara ate all evening long but slept pretty well. Nothing too remarkable. Trying to get things together for her party this weekend. Made stuffed mushroom filling and cleaned the mushrooms.

08/04/04

With all the sleep yesterday, she ended up waking up at midnight, 3:30am, and then at 6:30am. I think she's going through a growth spurt because in the afternoon she ate non-stop. We got her to bed at 10:30pm after many attempts, though she was sleeping in the famed bouncy seat for an hour or so. Whenever we tried to put her in her crib from there, she would wake up. I finally got her to calm down enough by swaddling and using this baby yoga move I read about - basically it's a free-fall. I hold her on her back and go into a quick squat. That stunned her enough to stop crying and then I did a cradle hold while patting her sacrum. Apparently the sacrum is a relaxation point on the body. She crashed shortly after and didn't wake up again until her internal 3:30am alarm went off. Alan went in to change her and see if she really was hungry because that's when she wakes every night, no matter what time she goes to sleep and I'm not sure if it's because of habit or hunger. She really wanted to eat, so I fed her and she went right back to bed and didn't wake until 6:30am.

08/03/04

Shara slept almost all day today - either in her bouncy seat, car seat, my arms, the floor, etc. Tried to get her to play but she was having none of it.

08/02/04

Today's the big 6-week mark. We really have nothing to complain about, since she hasn't had much of a problem going right back to sleep after a nightime feeding and we haven't seen all evening crying sessions since I started feeding her as soon as she begins to fuss. She was up almost all day today, except for the car rides to Omas and Grandpa Yabroudy's. We showed her off at a dinner party they were having. Good thing for the bouncy seat or she would have been fully overloaded with all the conversation! As it was, she didn't get to sleep too easily - had to be put in asleep, which I don't like to do.

08/01/04

We finally saw the first real smile today. Like most other things, you know it when you see it. We usually have to ask for one - getting it by giving her one first, but not always. Certainly when she sees a booby her eyes light up! We are extremely happy that we borrowed John and Maggie's bouncy seat. Aside from keeping her entertained and quiet - the vibrations - she also now learned that if she rocks enough, the bubbles will turn on! We also played with her on the activity mat and she learned that when she touches the windchimes, they'll make noise. Very cool to see some development. Up until now she's been working on instincts, rather than learned behaviors. She's no longer just a lump!