Monday Morning Mia

Again, it's a lovely Monday here. We had a great week and are looking forward to another.

Last week was very busy for us. Tuesday evening we went to a free jazz concert in Franklin Park. We picked up some sandwiches and went over to the park with friends. It was a nice cool evening, and Mia enjoyed the music and the company.

Thursday night we went to the Isabella Stewart Gardener museum. During the summer, the museum has free nights for locals. It's best that we go on a free night, because admission is pretty steep. Mia didn't much care for the art, but she did enjoy the music in the courtyard.

Saturday we packed up the car and took Mia to World's End, a park on the ocean designed by Frederick Law Olmstead. There are several miles of landscaped trails overlooking the ocean, and in the distance you can see Boston. It's very quiet and serene. We took a nice hike, enjoyed a picnic with sandwiches from the new shop that opened down the street from us, and reveled in the scenery. It's easy to forget how close we live to the ocean. Once Mia is bigger and can be in the sun we will really have to take advantage.


Last night we went to Jamaica Pond for yet another free concert. This time, the Boston Landmark Orchestra played for two hours. It was a gorgeous night, the first cool night in a string of very long hot days. We packed a picnic and got some friends to join us, and sat in the sunset to enjoy beautiful music. It was almost like Tanglewood, except much less money and much closer.


No real new developments in Mia's world. Teeth seem to be coming in, but no real proof just yet. There's a teeny tiny little bud, but you REALLY have to look to see it. Her hair seems to be coming in, and it's definitely blonde. It's so hard to imagine her with a full head of hair. She is still sleeping like a champ, only waking once a night for some milk to get her through until morning.

And, now evidence that she is indeed our child:

We're in trouble

She has acheived forward movement.

Last night I put her down in her crib, on her stomach, head facing north. Five minutes later, I go back to find her on her stomach, head facing south. Not sure exactly how she got from A to B. Could have flipped to the side than spun, could have sat up then fell flat again, or could have rotated 90 degrees, grabbed onto the side of the crib, stood, done a little jig, lost her balance and fell on her face. We'll never know.



This morning, after being awakened by a whining Walter, we checked in on her (second full night without a binky and all is well). She was practicing what can only be called the marine crawl, and had reached the end of her crib. What she planned on doing next we will never know, but in a limited way, she is now mobile.

Things are going to get oh so much more complicated from here on out.

Monday Morning Mia

It's another lovely Monday here at Chez StoneJohnson. Mia is sound asleep in her crib, Walter is napping in his chair, NPR is on the radio on the background. It's finally cool here, at least temporarily, and we all actually slept last night in the more temperate weather.

Mia is doing incredibly well. In addition to the rolling, she's also begun scooting. So, she'll go to sleep at the head of the crib, but wake up an hour or two later stuck at the other end of the crib. She needs help getting back over, but we don't mind too much. She can turn herself to get things that she wants, too. If the toy is far away, she can scoot herself around until she can reach it. It takes a while, but I'm sure she feels very proud of herself when she gets it.

This week begins Project De-Bink. Our pediatrician recommended that we start to take the pacifier away, as the older Mia gets, the more difficult it will be for us to take it away. We're going to ease into it. Yesterday we went for a long walk and didn't offer her the pacifier. She was pretty content, and only got mildly fussy toward the end. I just put her down for her nap and she didn't even need the pacifier. She just wanted Pinky, her stuffed cat, which she clutches in her little fists and pulls up to her face to snuggle. Adorable.

Teething seems to be on the horizon. "Teething" is pretty much a catch-all for any undesirable behaviors--fussiness, crying, biting, you name it. Our pediatrician told us the only way to be sure it's actually "teething" is when we see teeth. We have been checking, but so far no pearly whites. The biting has begun in earnest, though, so I think that teeth are really on the way. We'll be sure to keep you updated.

We didn't really take that many pictures this week. I'll post a few from a couple of days ago. These photos demonstrate her love of all things feet, and her new-found interest in gadgetry.

That's our girl

Mia surprised us all today. She's now 14 pounds 10 ounces, and 24 and 3/4 inches long. She had a great visit with the pediatrician, smiling and laughing and babbling up a storm. Until the shots, that is.

We have the green light to start solid food. I still want to wait a bit, but we went ahead and purchased our first box of rice cereal and some little baby spoons to go with it. We'll be sure to post video of the first feeding.

Here's some new photos. They are too cute for words.

Oops

Seems I actually posted under the "Dad" name yesterday. My apologies.

We survived yesterday's heat but today looks to be even worse. We're headed for cooler pastures...maybe going to a cafe this morning, and to babysitting coop at an airconditioned home this afternoon. It's supposed to break tonight. Let us hope so!

Big news for Mia yesterday-she learned how to take something from one hand and put in in the other. She grabbed her pacifier with one hand, then held it with both hands, and then transferred it to the other hand. I am beaming with pride.

I fear she is teething. Lots of upset crying, which is unusual for her. I can't see or really feel anything on her gums, but maybe the tooth is just under the surface. We're going to the doctor tomorrow, so we can ask her for advice.

I will post tomorrow with the updated weight and height. I'm guessing she's 14 lbs 3 oz and 26 inches long. Anyone else want to guess? (For reference, at last visit she was 11 lbs 14 oz and 23 inches long.)

Monday Morning Mia

Sorry to not technically get this posted until almost afternoon...
It's so hot here that Mia and I went for our walk this morning instead of in the afternoon. It is going to be miserably hot and humid these next few days, but we do so enjoy our walks, so it looks like morning is going to be walk time for a bit. We have a new neighborhood friend--he's a few weeks older than Mia--and he and his mom joined us this morning.

Now we've cloistered ourselves in Mia's room with the AC on. Mia is in her crib, Walter is napping at my feet, and I'm typing away on the Boppy nursing pillow. Dan Zanes House Party is playing in the background. It's a bit different from our normal routine, but hey, we need the AC.

This is a big week for us. Wednesday we go to the pediatrician for a checkup and some shots. I'm dreading the shots-last time Mia didn't react well, and it was so sad to see her in pain. Luckily, she hasn't been sick yet, so we don't have a lot of experience with a sad baby. I gave her Tylenol after the last batch of shots and she kind of slept off the pain, but it wasn't easy for us. It's going to be a long day on Wednesday. However, I can't wait to see how big she has gotten. I am assuming the doctor is going to tell us to start solid foods, too. I don't think we're quite ready, but we're getting there. Maybe I'll go buy a box of rice cereal just to begin to get us ready.

We also have two "play groups" now. Tuesdays our babysitting coop meets. We haven't started the actual babysitting part yet. Right now, all the families meet, and we get to hang out with each other and the babies. Soon we'll begin the process of letting one mom leave and seeing how the baby does. For now, though, it's just lots of kids on the floor.

We are also starting a Thursday neighborhood group. Now that the babies are older and need more stimulation, and the moms are starting to get a bit bored of the playmats at home, we're going to begin meeting once a week or so to socialize. At this point, it's probably more for the sake of the moms, but I think the babies have fun looking at each other. No one can crawl yet, so it's still pretty much rolling around on the floor, but some people think that's fun.

Hmm...what else. Last night we went to a JP moms BBQ. We actually had a pretty good time. There were seven or eight families there, all with babies. It was the first time interacting with JP dads, which was pretty cool. The hosts' home had a nice shady backyard, so they put a big blanket out for all the kids to play on. People brought all kinds of delicious food, and it was very casual. It's nice to go out and not have to worry about nursing or crying babies or spitup. It somehow seemed very stereotypical, but in a good way. Lots of talk about when to start solids, everyone's sleeping (or not sleeping) patterns, traveling with babies, etc. Learned a lot, ate a lot, and had a nice evening out.

In developmental news, Mia is almost almost almost sitting up by herself. She still sits in the tripod, but she's begun to push herself up. She can't stay up long, but she seems to be very eager to be sitting. Last night at the picnic she also pushed herself up onto all fours, into a sort of crawling position. I don't think she's anywhere near ready to crawl, but it was funny to see her in a different position. We're in no rush for crawling--it means all kinds of babyproofing, which we haven't started to do yet.

We've also given her a sippy cup of water a few times. She doesn't get much water, but she loves drinking from the cup. She can hold it by herself if I put her in the bouncy seat, and she loves the feeling of the cold water. Most of it ends up on her bib, but it's fun.

She's also begun to sleep on her side instead on on her back. Now that she has discovered rolling, she rolls right over in the crib to her side. She now has a little toy she sleeps with, a pink cat with a little soft blanket attached. She grabs it tightly in her little fist and jams the blanket part in her mouth to sleep. It's adorable.

We didn't take many photos this week. It's really the first time we haven't captured every second of her life. But, luckily we have a huge archive of photos, so here you go. Thanks to Amy for the photos--we can't take credit for them.

High frequency

They say that right before earthquakes livestock tend to get universally agitated, birds fly en mass from the trees, and the cows all stand up. Perhaps they're all just supremely sensitive to slight ground tremors, or just have some strange sixth sense about these things. Either way, I think our daughter has developed a similar skill.

Mia and her BFF have somehow developed their own form of sub-sonic communication, and are on the same sleeping (or in some cases, not-really-so-much-with-the-sleeping) schedule. They could be separated by miles and lead walls, and still melt down at exactly the same time. When Isabella sleeps, Mia sleeps. When Mia is hungry, Isabella is hungry. Perhaps later on, when she can explain this all to us it'll mark a leap forward for our society, but right now it makes for a neat party trick.

Updates

For those of you who read on more than just Mondays...
We now have back to front rollover. It began yesterday as kind of a twist, with the head end turned over but the foot end still face up. But then I left Mia on the bed for her nap and got up to get something in the kitchen. When I came back, she was on her belly. Well, now that she knows how to do this, she just can't stop. We woke up several times last night to grunting sounds on the monitor, only to go to her room to find her trapped on her belly (after being placed on her back to go to sleep). Interestingly, she knows how to get from her belly to her back, but she seems to have forgotten how in the excitement of newfound skills.

She also stuck her foot in her mouth yesterday, which I have to say is by far the cutest thing a baby can do. We had our babysitting coop over, and one of Mia's baby friends, 4 days younger, put her foot in her mouth for the first time. I kid you not, Mia was doing it by dinner time. While a competitive streak is not the most endearing of my traits my young daughter has inherited, I still think it's funny how she copies other babies. She did the same thing with the rattle, and I wouldn't be surprised if she does the same thing with crawling and walking.

Unfortunately, we don't have photos of these events. You'll just have to take my word for it. But I'll post a few other pictures anyway, just to reward you for checking the site. :)

Monday Morning Mia

Good morning!
All is well here at the BabyStoneJohnson house. Mia is asleep after a nice long walk in the park with Ben and Walter. I'm sore after my first run in at least 14 months, if not more. Walter is snoring on his blue armchair. It's not hot yet, although the weather man has promised us a scorcher.

This weekend Mia learned to enjoy her swimming pool. She spent the better part of half an hour on her stomach in the shallow wading pool, happy as a clam. Our previous attempt at "swimming" left her red-faced and crying, but now she is quite the little fish. Hopefully I'll be able to take her swimming in a pond or ocean soon enough. We've been talking about going out to Walden pond to swim with her friend Isabella, but so far we haven't been able to plan the trip. Maybe this week, with the hot weather.

Mia's grandmother was in town this weekend. Mia has logged quite a bit of grandparent time these past few weeks--last week in CT, this weekend here in Boston. We feel so lucky to have grandparents nearby who are able to spend so much quality time with her.

This week's newest excitement by far has to be the feet. She can grab them now. They aren't quite in the mouth yet, but I'm sure that's soon to follow. The joy of feet, however, seems to be keeping her awake. She can't stop grabbing them! At night when she goes into the crib, she will cry and grab them. I don't think they hurt, I just think they are so much fun that she can't stop the grabbing.

That's about it here. Sorry for the dull post, but since you only come for pictures anyway, here's a few. Newer photos will follow--they are just on other people's cameras.

Monday Morning Mia (on Tuesday)

Happy July 4!
We couldn't write yesterday because we were in Connecticut, enjoying a long weekend with Ben's parents and some friends. The July 4 visit has become somewhat of a tradition, as it is during the July 4 weekend that Garrison Keillor comes to Tanglewood to present his Prairie Home Companion. We've gone for the last several years, and we were so excited to finally bring Mia with us.

It seemed like there were a lot more babies than usual, but perhaps that is because now we notice babies. Mia had a great time, and managed to stay awake for most of the show, but finally fell asleep on the lawn at the very end.

Mia's newest trick is being able to almost sit up unsupported. She makes a little sort of table, putting her hands down in front to support. She wants to sit up all the time. If she is resting in the carseat or in the bouncy seat, she'll lean forward to get up. It must be frustrating to not be able to do it by herself, but she's hanging in there.


As for the sleep, well, we must have been a bit too smug. What used to be a peaceful nightly ritual has become a bit of a power struggle. We lose every time. She wants no part of going to bed any more. She just wants to be held, to be rocked, to play. It takes multiple attempts from multiple people to get her to finally give into sleep. It's not like she's not tired--she rubs her eyes, yawns, and generally has a glazed look to her big blue eyes. It seems like she just wants to stay up and be with us, but it might also be that she's hungry. Nursing is more difficult for her now, as she's distracted by the slightest movement. Nurse, smile at mom, nurse, look at the sunlight on the sofa, nurse, watch Walter jump off the couch. Since she's not eating as much at each feeding, she's probably also hungry at night. Which means that not only is she not going to sleep, she's not staying asleep. I actually don't mind waking up that much--it's nice and dark and quiet and she'll nurse herself back to sleep. It's just a very different phase that we are in right now. It's too bad she can't take sleeping lessons from the dog--he's a pro.