Kyveli is 4 months old!

Can we just stop time already? I know I say it every month, but I'm going to say it again and I doubt it will be the last time...I can't believe how quickly the time is passing, and how quickly Kyva is growing and changing. A couple of weeks ago I met a nice new mommy friend who had a 6-day-old baby boy who was the same size as Kyva when she was born. He seemed so tiny! It's hard for me to remember my own little sweetie being that little, even though I know she was. And this is just the beginning...I don't even want to think about how I'll feel when I'm watching her graduate from high school, or holding her own little sweetie.

Here are just some of the photos from her 4-month shoot. Is it just me, or does the number of photos grow each month? I can't seem to narrow them down any further. I hope you don't mind ;^)







Is it just me or does it look like she took this one herself for her Myspace page? She was grabbing the camera cord.


And the best part - the chubby thighs that I love to grab!


Dear Kyva,

I can't believe you are already 4 months old. How is that even possible? It seems like you just joined us, yet I hardly remember and can't imagine life before you were around. I think you had your 3-month growth spurt a couple of weeks ago, since you just wanted to nurse, nurse, nurse all the time and were extra fussy for a few days. I weighed you last week and you weighed 13lbs9oz (up over 2 pounds in just a few weeks), so you've definitely been busy growing up a storm. Your 4-month checkup is next week and I'm looking forward to finding out your new stats, though I'm most definitely NOT looking forward to the shots you'll receive then, especially after last time. We may need to skip one of them due to a possible allergic reaction, which after talking to your Grandma Renee, I learned that I also had. You've also become much more accomodating of your parents lately. A few days ago it dawned on me that it's been quite awhile since you pitched a fit in the carseat! Like several weeks! And we don't even have to time our trips for when you're awake and in a good mood anymore...you'll even fall asleep in the car without any help now and nap for as long as you need to. It's given us a great new sense of freedom, and it means that I no longer break out into a cold sweat as I approach red traffic lights!

Another example of your newly accomodating nature: you let me go to my first concert since before you were born! As you'll find out soon enough, your mommy is a big fan of live music and used to go to shows all the time. I even used to write live music columns for a couple of different websites (these "columns" were really more like blogs, but before there was such a thing). Well, Jason Lytle, the singer of the now-defunct band Grandaddy (one of my absolute favorites of all time), played a show on a Monday night at Cafe du Nord in San Francisco earlier this month and I reeeeeeally wanted to go. Troy and Robert were nice enough to let us stay at their place and daddy stayed there with you while I went out for some live music - just like old times! I was worried about it, but you did just fine! You slept the whole time in the Moby wrap on daddy and probably didn't even realize I took off for a few hours. Then you slept like an angel in your pack-n-play and didn't wake up any more often than you do in your normal bed at home (it was the first time you had slept in it, so we were also worried about how that would go). It was so much fun, and made me feel a bit like my old self hasn't been lost completely. Then in the morning we woke up early, drove back home and dropped daddy off at work on our way!

You have also officially discovered your voice! You love to squeal and screech at the top of your lungs when you're in a happy mood, which is most of the time. It gets a good laugh out of everyone who happens to be around, and I call you "my little screecher-creature" when you do it. It's adorable of course, although if our ears are a little too close to your face it can also be somewhat painful! You say a couple of things that sound a bit like the words "mom" and "ham" too, but we know it's really just a coincidence. Even so, I always try to reinforce "mom" when it comes out! You started blowing raspberries as well in the last few days, which is super adorable. Also among your recent discoveries: your legs and feet! I watched you find them, and am so grateful that I get to spend so much time with you so that I can witness you making these discoveries. You were wearing little footed pants with jungle animals printed on them. All of a sudden while you were looking in the direction of your knees and feet, your eyes got really big and you started trying to pick the little animals off your knees! Then for the rest of the day you kept staring at your wiggling toes when you were sitting in my lap. Soon enough they will be your favorite things to munch on, I'm certain.

Mommy and daddy both wanted to do some work in the yard and garden last weekend and since you love to stand on your strong little legs, can now hold your head up with no issues whatsoever and love reaching for things, we thought you might like to try out the stationary entertainer that Shenoa and Erica gave you. I thought you'd still be too little, but the lowest setting was the perfect size. So many toys and fun things to look at, all within grabbing distance. You loved it, as evidenced by the following photos:





We've been getting a lot of use out of it since then. Now you can be busy playing right there in the kitchen with me while I cook dinner. It's nice not to have to put you in the Beco carrier every time I need both hands free. Of course you love the Beco, but I get really nervous doing anything that involves sharp knives or hot stoves while I've got you in it so close to the action.

Speaking of the carrier, I wanted to share the little game you invented (you clever girl)! When we're out and about and you're riding along in the Beco, you like to stare up at me until I notice you looking and look back down at you. You find this hilarious, and giggle up a storm! So on we go...I pretend not to notice you looking at me, and then look down at you all of a sudden and say "HI!", and you laugh your cute little laugh. It's great fun for both of us, and we are looking forward to all of the other fun games we'll be playing with you over the years.

Well it's late (and so is this post...by yet another week) and you'll be waking up for your midnight feeding soon, so off to bed I go. I love you, my sweet little one!

Love,
Mommy

One year ago...

...our lives changed forever. We found out that we were expecting a baby! It's a pretty entertaining story (at least I think so), so I thought I'd share:

On the morning of June 26th, we had to wake up ridiculously early to catch a flight to my family reunion in Illinois. It was the first one we had ever had, so everyone was pretty excited at the prospect of seeing eachother again, and at an event that was neither a wedding nor a funeral to boot. Kailen and I had been "trying" so I decided to take a pregnancy test before we left, since we'd be in Illinois for the next several days and it would be much more convenient to pee on a stick in the comfort of my own bathroom, even though it still was pretty early to get a clear BFP (in the baby-making biz, this stands for Big Fat Positive). So pee on stick I did, and waited the required 3 minutes. Alas, there was no line...or wait a minute...was there? There was the absolute faintest of faint shadows just to the left of the center in the little circle. It was so faint that I was certain I had imagined it out of wishful thinking, and besides it was so early that my eyes were still bleary and could not be counted upon. Mildly disappointed, I threw the test out and hopped into the shower, got dressed and finished my last bit of packing. Then, about 30 minutes later I fished the test out of the garbage out of curiosity to take another look. The shadow was still there, and it was now a teensy bit darker. At this point I was getting really anxious because the line, though still super faint, was definitely there and in the exact same off-center spot that I thought I had seen it before. But since so much time had elapsed by that point, I knew it could have been an evaporation line. But I didn't want to test again until the next morning so that I could use the most concentrated, umm...testing material...available. Problem was, we were about to jump on a flight in a couple of hours. What a conundrum. I woke up Kailen and asked for his opinion. His response? "Huh, trippy." OK dude, thanks for the help!

So off we flew to Illinois, all the while wondering if someone had really taken up residence in my uterus. I figured we'd stop by a drugstore on the way to my aunt and uncle's place so that I could test again in the morning. We arrived in St. Louis and met up with my mom and sisters, who had flown in on various other flights. Since Kailen and I had arrived first, it would have made the most sense to pick up a few more tests before everyone else arrived, but for whatever silly reason we didn't. Because there were so many of us we had to take my sister Marisa in our rental car while my mom, Sage and Madylan drove together in the other car. We had to come clean to Marisa since we were sure she'd wonder why we simply HAD to stop at a drugstore, of all places, on the way there. She was excited at the prospect of becoming an auntie and made me promise she could be in the bathroom with me when I took the test in the morning. However, southern Illinois is remarkably free of just-off-the-freeway drugstores, and we were too tired from traveling all day to go searching too far from the beaten path, so we never did find one.

The next morning Kailen and I were awake with the adults instead of sleeping in along with the rest of the "kids." Now mind you, I had to wait to pee until we made it to a drugstore, bought tests, got back, and woke up Marisa. I tried not to think about how badly I had to go and told my aunt I had forgotten something at home and asked where the nearest drugstore was. At first she tried to offer me whatever it is I might have needed. "A toothbrush? Tampons? Herpes medicine?" Har har. Just tell us where the drugstore is, lady, and make it snappy, because I doubt you have what I really need and boy oh boy do I have to pee! She finally told us and off we sped to the next town, where we picked up several more regular pee sticks and a digital one, just in case. We had neglected to pay attention to where we were going on the way there and we ended up getting lost on the way back. By this time I was about to explode. But somehow we made it back without any accidents, and I went to wake up Marisa. Oopsie, I didn't realize Marisa was already up by that point and I accidentally woke up Madylan instead. I think she could tell by how I was acting that something was up. I probably wasn't being very smooth, but by this point all I could think about was how badly I needed to pee! I finally found the right sister and off we went into the bathroom. I got to relieve myself at long last, and it was a lucky thing that a few drops even managed to find their way onto the pee stick. At this point, Madylan came pounding on the door demanding to be a part of whatever was going on, since something obviously was. We let her in, quickly filled her in on what we were up to, and the three of us waited together for the result. This time, the line was unmistakeable. Still faint, but much less so, and all three of us could see it. The three of us squealed very quietly so that nobody else would hear us and demand to be part of our little bathroom shenanigans club. We did let Sage in on the secret though, so none of the sisters would feel left out.

Even though I knew that "a line is a line, no matter how faint" and that it was pretty likely that I was, in fact, knocked up at this point, I still wasn't 100% convinced. Most people I know have had to take dozens of pregnancy tests before they felt adequately certain that it wasn't just a fluke, even though false positives are extremely rare. But silly me, I just wasn't going to be convinced unless I saw it in big, bold letters on the digital. Somehow I held out on testing again until the following morning, and this popped up, clear as day:



The great thing about finding out that you're pregnant at a family reunion is that you get to tell the whole family at the same time! Though many people choose to wait until after the first trimester to share the happy news, we knew that our family would be a wonderful source of support no matter what. We got to break the news to my mom that she was going to be a grandmother by actually showing her the digital test. What a great photo op!




Here's the family picture we took later that day:


(From left to right) Front row: sister Sage, cousins Drew, Skylar and McKenzie, Uncle Bill, mom Renee. Middle row: Cousin Kurtis, me, great aunt Vi, cousin Robin holding Reese, sister Madylan, cousin Erin holding Chayse, aunt Sandy. Back row: cousin Mike, Kailen, great uncle Med, Robin's man Howard, cousins Gail and Gary, and sister Marisa.

Kyva cuteness in realtime

Because I'm a slacker (well ok, a busy mom) and should have posted Kyva's 3-month update a week ago, here are a couple of bonus videos:

Kyveli is 3 months old!

I had the goal of taking at least one photo each day of Kyveli during the month of May to post here, but we left our camera at the family homestead when we went to visit Aunt Heather, Grandma Marge, and the rest of the family over Mother's Day weekend. So much for that goal! It should be considered a crime not to have a camera constantly available when you have a new baby, since they change so quickly. Heather was kind enough to send it back to us, so here are some of my favorites from Kyva's 3-month photos:








The rest can be found here, at Kyveli's online photo gallery.

Dear Kyva,

This has been another busy month for you, my sweet girl. You had your 2-month checkup a few weeks ago and our suspicion was true...you really are growing like a weed! You weighed 11lbs, 4oz and measured 23 inches long at your checkup, which means that you have grown 4 whole inches and 4 whole pounds since you were born! I think you may even be a pound or two heavier now, since I find new rolls of cute baby chub every time I go looking. You did great at your appointment despite having to get 3 shots. That part was no fun for any of us, but I was able to hold you while you received them and nurse you right afterwards and that seemed to help you forget about your troubles. You were very fussy and one of your legs was red and swollen later that day but we gave you baby Tylenol and some extra snuggles and you were back to your happy self the next morning. Your mommy and daddy are not looking forward to your next installment of shots at your 4-month checkup since we hate the idea of anyone hurting you, but we know how important it is for you to be healthy. We also now know to give you the Tylenol before your appointment, so hopefully we can avoid the post-shot fussies altogether.

Your little personality is emerging more and more each day, and it's a beautiful thing to watch. You spend much of your awake time playing on your activity mat, which you now show us how much you love by squealing with delight! You can grasp the hanging toys with your hands and pull them into your mouth now too. Your newest talents are "talking" and "standing". You and I have had some great conversations over the past few weeks now that you can gurgle, coo and squeal. And you seem to love getting a big kid's eye view of things when we hold you up to stand on your strong little legs. Last week at our new mom's group I held you up so that you could be eye to eye with some of your baby friends, and you really seemed to enjoy that. You are becoming quite the little social butterfly!

In my last letter to you I mentioned how nice it would be if you started sleeping in longer stretches at night, and you must have read that part while I wasn't looking because you have begun to sleep through the night! It's not happening consistently yet - only about 50% of the time - but you're on your way. Now if only *I* could stop waking up at 4am out of habit on those nights, we'd both be set! For now you still sleep right next to our bed in a co-sleeper, but once you sleep through the night consistently we'll move you across the room to your crib.

Every night when we've gotten you to sleep and all is quiet, I feel like we've accomplished a small miracle just by getting through the day successfully. Having and caring for a baby - even one as cute and sweet as you - is no easy task. But we are all 3 months in now, and it seems like we've found our groove. Could it be that you have completed the 4th trimester, as Dr. Harvey Karp calls a baby's first 3 months? If so, that makes me both happy and sad since I know that you will only become more independent from now on. But I am looking forward to watching you grow and change every day, on your journey to becoming who you will be. And I will always love you, no matter who that is.

Love,
Mommy

What a difference 2 months makes

On our first night home from the hospital with Kyveli, I walked into the bedroom about to collapse with exhaustion, saw this, and my heart just about burst:



Fast forward to two nights ago, almost exactly two months from the night that photo was taken. Kyva fell asleep again with Kailen, who just happened to be wearing the same flannel shirt:



Amazing! This of course prompted me to look through all of the photos we took during her first two weeks. She was such a little peanut back then! I just can't believe how fast our little girl is growing.

Kyveli is 2 months old!

Here are some of the highlights from her 2-month shoot:




I am beginning to sound like a broken record, but yet again I can't believe how quickly the time is passing. How can it possibly be two months since Kyva joined us? At this rate she'll be off to college, to say nothing of preschool, before we know it. Here is my second monthly letter to her:

Dear Kyva,

You have been a very busy baby since you turned one month old! In addition to holding your head up, you can now keep it much steadier and turn it to look at things. You love bath time and diaper changes, ADORE your play mat, and you're even getting better at riding in the car. We discovered that you like Soothie pacifiers, even though you didn't like them when you were new. The pacifier has been the magic solution to the carseat dilemma, unless of course you are just too tired. If that's the case there's nothing that will help, so we try to avoid that situation. When you were really little we had to wait until you were sound asleep before we could try to go anywhere, but that doesn't work anymore since you seem to be a lighter sleeper now. Now we need to make sure you are awake, fed, and happy and then you usually tolerate the carseat with the help of your pacifier.

You laughed in your sleep a few weeks ago, which was very entertaining! We are really looking forward to your first awake laugh and I doubt we will have to wait for it much longer. Another very exciting development happened just a few days ago: you discovered your hands! I've been waving them in front of your face and showing you how to put them in your mouth, and this past Wednesday you did it yourself. You don't quite have the coordination yet to keep them there, but it's a start! You've also started grabbing and batting at the hanging toys on your play mat, which is very cute to watch.

We also took you on your first overnight trip away from home, to visit your Grandma Marge, Auntie Heather, Uncle Brian and cousins Shasta and Jevria for Mother's Day. We had a lot of fun and your cousins were excited to see you for the second time. Jevria really liked holding your little hand and talking to you to try to get you to smile at her! Grandma Marge gave us her bed so that we could be more comfortable, which was so very sweet of her. We brought along your snuggle nest and all slept together in the bed, just like old times...only now you barely fit in it! What a big girl you've become!

Just how big you are we're not quite sure, although you were almost 11 pounds the last time I weighed you a few weeks ago. Your 2-month checkup was scheduled for May 8th, but we had to reschedule it for the 29th. We're looking forward to finding out exactly how much you've grown, but most definitely not looking forward to the three vaccinations you will be receiving. I'm sure it's going to be harder on us than it will be for you...at least I am hoping that will be the case. We're big, we can handle it. You're just little and it breaks my heart to think of anyone hurting you! We've chosen a delayed vaccination schedule so that at least you won't have to get quite as many pokes when you're so new.

Not that I'm complaining at all, but I am really looking forward to when you start sleeping through the night, or at least longer than 3 hours at a stretch. You've shown us that you want your bedtime to be between 6:30 and 8:00 by getting really fussy if we accidentally make you stay up later than that, so we try to honor your wishes! Then we'll do a dreamfeed right before mommy and daddy's bedtime so that you can keep on sleeping for a few more hours. You consistently wake up to eat again at 3:30am, and then go back to sleep until around 6:30 when you decide it's time to get up for the day. I'll let you in on a little secret: your mommy has never been an early riser, so this has been a little tough on me, but I'll survive! Who knows, maybe you'll turn me into an early bird after all. You are quite possibly the only person in the world who I would do that for...because I'd do just about anything for you, my sweet girl!

Love,
Mommy

Here are a couple of final photos of our girl, just because I love them (we didn't use any special effects - she really is that beautiful!):

Kyveli's Newborn Photo Shoot

When Kyveli was 2 weeks old, we arranged for Kelly M (who also shot our maternity photos) to shoot her newborn photos. Toward the end of the slideshow below, there are several photos which were taken on a Persian rug. My dad brought this rug back for us from the Middle East as a gift, and it is very special to us. It's the same rug that we stood on during our wedding ceremony, and it has hung above the head of our bed ever since as a reminder of the vows we took that day. We were also really happy that my mom and two of my three sisters were able to be there the day of the photo shoot. We love these photos and hope you do too!