#fionaberry

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Month 10: Holidays

Sommer-

This past month: Holidays, holidays, holidays.  If you know me, you know that I’m a big fan of Christmas (I start holiday music BEFORE Thanksgiving, so yeah), but I didn’t know how much fun it could be with a baby!  Nothing like a cute baby in a red outfit taking a picture with Santa to make my heart melt.  And in true Fiona form, she didn’t cry at all.  She looked him up and down like, “who the heck are you, beard-o?”  This Christmas was magical.  Saw so much family and friends, and it filled our cups to the brim with warmth and joy.  Just want to say a big THANK YOU to the Neff family for hosting us for five whole days, giving up two rooms, and throwing multiple parties/hosting get togethers.  We are so lucky and fortunate to be a part of the best family.    

Physical happenings: It’s bittersweet, but my breastfeeding days came pretty much to an end this month.  Now, I’m completely weaned Fiona except for every other day or so.  It’s true I will miss the incredible bond, but I won’t miss the stress surrounding it.  Nice to have a little bit of FREEDOM back!  

Emotional happenings: For some reason, even though Fiona is “sleeping through the night” (take that with a grain of salt, she still is inconsistent with wake ups and has random 3am cry fests as well as 5:30 am wake ups), and I’m getting better sleep, I still can’t seem to feel rested.  I’m wondering if I will ever feel fully rested again?  Parents?  Does a good night’s sleep seem promising for my future?  Ha!  I’ve resorted to wearing ear plugs because seriously everything wakes me up.      

Galen-

This past month: Another whirlwind of a month is in the books for Ms. Fiona. Where to begin?! Let’s start with the holidays. We had the chance to spend 5 days in Houston over Christmas, and Fiona had a blast! She got to explore many new places, meet tons of loving family members and friends, and was the center of attention the entire time - which she seems to love.

She seemed to grow a ton this past month as well. Not sure what happened, but she went from barely finishing 12 ounces of milk at daycare to crushing 21 ounces plus a bunch of food. She can’t get enough, it seems, and it makes sense given how she spends nearly every waking hour walking around with the walker and smashing into things.

As seems to be the case with these early months, there were a lot more firsts, including her first:

Christmas!

Road trip (she did great!)

Bowl of chicken noodle soup (her new favorite food)

Injury (pulled a coffee table tray onto her face… she’s ok)

Standing up by her self… for a few seconds

Unassisted lap around our house on her walker

Meeting with her great great grandpa / grandma!

Trip to the zoo to see tons of new animals

Looking ahead: I really feel like we are on the verge of Fiona taking some BIG steps forward… literally. She is an absolute live wire and is starting to experiment with standing. Combining that with her love for walking with her walker, it seems like only a matter of time. We also have her 1st birthday coming up in 7 weeks! What!?

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Month 8-9: Cruisin’

Sommer-

This past month: This girl. Have you gotten to know this girl, Fiona?  Because if you haven’t you really should.  She’s a riot, and I’ve loved seeing her personality blossom recently.  She’s determined, sweet and sensitive, fearless, gregarious, and loves to laugh and make other laugh.  These past couple of months have been one milestone after the next and time has moved almost as fast as her little legs are taking her crawling around the room.  She waves hello and goodbye, learned the sign “all done”, grew 4 teeth (!), and started cruising around the room and climbing everything.  I’m sure I’m missing something that Galen can fill in the blanks on below.

One of the hardest things we endured was the whole house being sick. And mom-ing doesn’t stop when you are sick, nope.

Physical happenings: Pumping while sick, I’ve learned, is pretty awful.  Not really much to say about it except that hooking yourself up to a contraption that sucks on your sensitive parts while your body is achy is no fun.  I’m starting the weaning process, and I’m feeling pretty good about it.  My supply is lowering, and she’s started supplementing with more and more formula.  I do have a pang of guilt though thinking I should be focused more on exclusively breastfeeding, but I have to remind myself I’ve gone pretty darn long (especially for working while doing it) considering all of the issues i’ve had.  

Emotional happenings: So much joy these past couple of months.  Don’t get me wrong though there are frustrating times.  She still doesn’t nap worth a darn, she’s bitten while breastfeeding (ouch!), and if I have to hear one more barnyard sing-a-long I might go crazy.  However, it’s gotten FUN.  Real fun with her!  She laughs heartily with us, plays peek-a-boo with herself as I watch in adoration (cutest thing ever), squeals like a pterodactyl, eats like a champ, lets me kiss her pillow cheeks, and melts me when she rests her tired head on my chest.  What a wonderful rollercoaster this parenting thing is.

Galen-

Looking Back: I have to echo everything Sommer said. Fiona is so much fun. These last two months have been an absolute blur, which is a good thing because it really feels like we have hit our stride. She sleeps through the night most nights (with one dream feed, which we will happily take at this point), so we are actually getting enough sleep to feel mostly like functional humans. And she is super active, which makes playtime a blast. She loves it when I roughhouse with her, tickle her, play peak-a-boo, put toys on my head, wear sunglasses (one of her passions is ripping them off my face and then attempting to break them), and play guitar! I love the fascination she has with the world. It is contagious.

Here are a few new Fiona firsts:

Halloween (as a bear)

Snacking (she loves Puffs)

Cruising on the couch

Bite of chicken (we think it made her sick)

Thanksgiving!

Winter walk

Santa pictures!

Parent-assisted walking lap around the house

Thinking Out Loud: One of the unanticipated perks of having a baby is taking them out in public (usually to the grocery store) and people watching. Many people just melt when they see Fiona. For one split second, she allows people to put their busy lives on break and share a happy moment. And what fascinates me is that I don’t know anything about these people… yet there is a connection through Fiona. And these could be people I would otherwise never get along with or connect with. It may sound weird, but these little moments give me a lot of hope and make me realize we have a lot more in common with other people than we may think.

Looking Ahead: Sommer and I have one week left of work, and then we are off for the rest of 2017! We are super excited to spend a long holiday with Fiona. We also have our first road trip planned to Houston for Christmas to visit Emmy, GP, and Rachu. Fiona does not even know how much spoilage will ensure! We are also excited about a few non-Fiona activities, including a date day to go see the new Star War movie. Sommer and I agree that we need to find time for ourselves and each other, so we are hoping to get more running/yoga in and maybe get a few date days/nights in as well!

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Month 6: Graduation

Sommer-

This past month: We hit half a year! Wow, what a milestone. I have to say, month 6 has been my favorite so far.  She was cute before but man she just sky rocketed in the cute factor. I love her laugh, her cute little cheeks, and her chubby little legs.  

This month has been a big month. She said goodbye to being at work with mommy and daddy and started daycare! I think it has been harder on me than her, but she has been a champ.  Sure it’s an adjustment but she has some wonderful caretakers, and most importantly I get to stalk her 24/7 on streaming cameras the whole time, hehe. It’s the end of an era and the beginning of a new one.  

Other things she’s accomplished is starting to explore food! We’ve been giving her chunks of apple, pear, and banana to chomp and making some purees as well.  She’s not exactly swallowing much yet, but the foray into foods has been fun. It’s nice to snack with her at the table! Also, I’ve never known what a splat mat is but we need one for the floor. Just yet another one of those things you don’t think about when you aren’t a parent, but eating is messy with a baby!  

Physical happenings: A good mommy friend of mine put it this way: just when you get the whole breastfeeding thing down, they start eating solids.  I’ll begin the slow and steady weaning process over the next several months, and I’m pretty clueless.  Hopefully nature just takes its course and it won’t be too difficult!  Also, anyone else have an aggressive grabber and sucker??  Fiona is super strong when she nurses, and I’m going away with some nail scratches after feedings.  Any tips??

Emotional happenings: Feeling bittersweet about not being with Fiona day in and day out, but i was so fortunate to get that time with her in the first place so definitely grateful.  I’m able to focus better at work now, which is also a plus.  

Yoga:  One class a week woo hoo!  Until she starts sleeping through the night just don’t think i can do much more than that.  

Baby updates: We have a 6 month appointment coming up soon, and I will certainly update how she does.  We think she’s about 16 pounds already!  She’s begun army crawling and her vocalizations are becoming smoother, as if she’s trying to carry on some conversations. So cute!

Galen-

Looking Back: This is the first month where time really seemed to fly by. It is hard to keep track of all the changes. Like Sommer said, Fiona has really improved her mobility; she can now get into a plank position, do downward dog, spin in circles, even army crawl! This is game changer, especially since she recently started day care and will need to develop her independence. Being mobile gives her a lot more tools in her tool belt to entertain herself.

Thinking Out Loud: Oy, Fiona is still the world’s worst napper. We like to tell ourselves that maybe it’s because she’s a little genius baby, but who knows… but these naps. She has actually started flat out rejecting some afternoon naps. I spent 30 minutes putting her down for a 10 minute nap today. One thing no one tells you is how hard it is to get (at least some) kids to sleep.

Looking Ahead: Sommer and I are able to think more about our own future now that Fiona is a bit more independent and in day care and we are able to get into our grooves at work. We really want to put ourselves in a position to buy a house in a few years so that we can have more space, a clear school plan, and a neighborhood and place to set down some roots. It’s an exciting thought that has made us focus more on our savings goals and imagine bigger and better opportunities professionally. We are working for more than ourselves nowadays!

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Month 5: Taking Flight!

Sommer-

This past month: So much has happened, but most notably we’ve started sleep training and went on a big trip. Galen covers the trip below so I’ll focus on the sleep training.  If you couldn’t tell from the last posts, sleep had hit a point of desperation and this past month we hit the 4 month sleep regression, which wouldn’t have been a big deal had we been getting the “newborn” sleep that people talk about, but we never really had that in the first place.  SO, based on friends’ recommendations, we hired a sleep coach.  Her name is Tracy Spackman and she specializes in gentle sleep training.  I really never thought it would come to this... hiring someone to teach you how to teach your baby how to sleep, but desperate times call for desperate measures.  And let me tell you, so far it has been worth every penny.  

The best part of the whole thing is that we can put Fiona down and not rock her!  Other positive things: she  sleeps more in general and looks and acts more rested, she is in her own room which we worked hard to make for her and now she really enjoys it, my back feels better, sanity is slowly being restored, I enjoy time with our baby all the more because we are both more rested.  

Baby updates: Fiona is 5 months, and I feel like she had grown more this month than any other.  She rarely misses when she grabs things, does some mean baby push ups with full arms extended, and she laughs so heartily it makes me laugh all the harder with her.  I think she’s about 5 seconds away from crawling, and it’s just so amazing to see. 

Galen-

Future Planning: So I know I’m supposed to talk about upcoming stuff, but I have to flip the script and talk about our first family vacation. Fiona was an absolute champion in the face of almost constant change and new experiences. She took everything in stride and seemed to be genuinely excited about almost everything. In no particular order, here are a few firsts for her:

Flying on a plane

Sleeping in someone else’s house

Sleeping in a hotel room

Sleeping at a wedding

Sleeping in a carrier like 3 times a day

Road tripping (at elevation, no less)

Getting rained on

Getting her feet wet in Lake Tahoe

Hanging out with 4 friendly dogs

Going on a hike

Getting a sunburn (just a little one, on her foot)

Pushing bedtime to 9pm Pacific Time

One of my closest childhood friends got married this past weekend, and Sommer and I were determined to turn this opportunity into a proper vacation. But we were prepared for the worst given the mandatory flying, driving, and time zone change that goes along with going to a wedding at Lake Tahoe. We ended up not only attending the beautiful wedding; we made the most of our vacation by taking an amazing trip up the Heavenly Gondola and hiking trails and driving the entire east side of Lake Tahoe, including a trip to King’s Beach. Aside from some challenges with spending too much time in the car, Fiona seemed to love every minute. We are so proud of her, and proud of ourselves for making the most of our time off and literally making family memories that will last a lifetime in one of the most beautiful places in the US.

Random Thoughts: A very strange thing happened this weekend. Fiona, Sommer and I were eating some lunch in Heavenly Village when a random older gentleman walked up to us and shared a pretty amazing perspective. I don’t remember exactly what he said, but he more or less told us that he was so impressed with how we were working as a team with Fiona; how we were very inclusive with her and how we supported each other in taking care of her.

This may sound a bit creepy on this guy’s part and arrogant on our part, but it really touched our hearts because everything he said he saw in us was everything I think we hope to be when it comes to raising Fiona. We really want to raise her as a team, make her feel loved and included, and support each other and share the load as much as possible along the way. It really meant the world to know that someone who doesn’t know us at all was able to see that bond we have for each other and for Fiona. Parenting is not a cakewalk, so it really helps to hear things like this; they make us feel like we are doing something right!