Our little chatterbox

Kyveli is 5 months old!

I realized a couple of weeks ago when I got Kyva's week 20 update email from Babycenter.com that she's now been an outside baby for half as long as shespent as an inside baby. I remember like it was yesterday that morning when Kailen and I were carpooling to work together and I told him that day marked the halfway point in my second trimester. His response: "...so wouldn't that mean that you're, uh, halfway through the pregnancy now?" Why yes, it would - though it honestly hadn't occurred to me until that point! Here are some updated photos of our little Kyva:




Get a load of these eyelashes:


Look - I can grab my toes!

I shall now eeet you!

NOM NOM NOM

Extreme closeup:


Dear Kyva,

Happy 5th month, little sweetie! We've all been busy, busy, busy this month. First things first - your new stats! You had your 4-month checkup a couple of weeks ago and you weighed 14lbs, 4oz (exactly double your birth weight), you're now 24.75" tall (up nearly 6" from birth) and your head circumference is now 16.25" (a full 3" bigger than it started)! I weighed you again last week at our new moms' group and you've already gained another pound. We had to delay your shots until a few days after your appointment so that your pediatrician could check to make sure the reaction you had to your last shots was normal, which it was. You did MUCH better this time since we gave you Tylenol an hour beforehand instead of waiting to see if you needed it. You were a little fussy later that day and the next day, but overall you handled it like a champ. What a relief!

You're so much fun to be around these days. In addition to squealing like last month, you've just started babbling and making consonant sounds. You love going "yayayaya", usually with a finger or two stuck in your mouth. You laugh a lot and seem to be enjoying us as much as we are enjoying you. It's really fun watching your individual personality and sense of humor emerge. You reach for anything that passes by and your aim is getting much better. Sometimes when we pick you up, you reach for our necks with both arms and it's like getting a little hug from you. Even though you probably don't know what you're doing yet, I try to convince myself that these hugs are intentional! You've got a tooth coming in, too. Right now it looks like a little white spot on your lower right gums, and it feels like a sharp little bump. You're a drool machine and have been putting everything in your mouth. Then once it gets in there, you shake your head from side to side like you're going to rip it to pieces! I hope your first little toothie doesn't cause you too much discomfort when it pops through. You'll be so cute with one bottom tooth!

Can you see my tooth-to-be?


In other exciting news, we took you on your first camping trip a couple of weeks ago for Shenoa's birthday! Your mommy and daddy are big campers and love spending time outdooors. Daddy proposed to mommy during a fabulous camping trip for two in Death Valley. We even registered for wedding gifts at REI, and thanks to some very generous friends and family members, we now have nice camping gear that we like to use as often as possible. We were excited to take you on your first camping trip and hoped that you'd like it as much as we do. You sure did! You loved looking up at the trees and sky and you charmed all of our friends who came along with your smiles and squeals (not to mention your adorable snowsuits that we were happy you got a chance to wear). You slept great in our cozy tent and our friends didn't hear a peep out of you at night even though their tents were within inches of ours. Not so with the other baby all the way across the campground, *ahem*. The only drawback was that mommy didn't sleep very well since I was constantly checking to make sure you weren't too cold or that the sleeping bag wasn't covering your face. But fortunately for us all, mommy has gotten used to getting by on very little sleep so it wasn't much of an issue. We can't wait to take you on your second camping trip in a few days and hope that it will go just as well. Here's a video of our very happy little camper:



The other big goings on lately involve mommy's work situation. I had been planning to take your first six months off so I could be home with you and devote my full attention to caring for you, but the closer that mark came, the sadder I got and the more unprepared I felt to leave you in the care of someone else. Your daddy and I talked and talked about it and decided that I should extend my leave of absence by an additional 6 months, making a full year that I could be home with you. I agonized over this decision, since I really didn't want to leave my coworkers in a bad spot. But, as you'll probably find out when you take a history class in high school, we are currently in the midst of a major economic downturn, and employers are laying off employees in droves right now. Rather optimistically, I thought that maybe, just maybe, by extending my leave I could be doing the rest of my coworkers a favor. So I bit the bullet and had "the talk" with my office manager. I was very relieved when she said that they had planned to call me anyway to suggest the same arrangement! So your mommy is very happy to announce that she is a stay-at-home-mom for the time being. It feels like the right decision for our little family, even though it means we won't be able to buy you everything we'd like to. I'm sure we'll manage just fine.

In a couple of weeks we'll be taking you on your first airplane trip when we go up to Oregon for Robin and Garrett's wedding. I've gotten lots of great tips for ways to make the flight more comfortable for you so hopefully it won't be traumatic for any of us (or those seated around us). It will be great to see some people again, and to introduce you to other people for the very first time. I know they're all looking forward to seeing you, too! I'll make sure to write all about this adventure in next month's letter. Until then!

Love,
Mommy

She laughs!

We've gotten a few scattered giggles out of her here and there, but this past Saturday was the first time she had a true attack of belly laughs and we managed to get it on camera! I thought I'd share because, well, who doesn't love a laughing baby? Enjoy!

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