Our little baby is 4 months old. This past month sure was a whirlwind for her (and us) but she has continued to surprise us with her adaptability, her skills development, her smiles, her great bouts of laughter and her persistent sweetness. She has grown up so much lately and I feel like we are all getting better and better and understanding one another. She still has occasional crying fits, but they are really few and far between. She has been getting great reports each day from daycare and this week she has taken a bottle like an old pro. She even started holding her own bottle a bit yesterday! They say that she is happy, sweet and easy at daycare. She sleeps well in her crib (except today), she loves getting her diaper changed, she is usually happy to entertain herself in a bouncy chair, the bumbo chair or on the blanket. Her favorite toy is still Senor Frog or the Mexican rattle that Brent bought for her in Cabo (although it makes us nervous for lead paint reasons so I think I have to take that one out of rotation). She is starting to play with Sophie (the rubber giraffe) more and more, including chewing on it. We've recently noticed that she brings almost everything to her mouth immediately. That proved challenging in New York City.
Last week she also discovered her feet and she grabs them all the time (see video), which allows her to scoot around in a circle. She still hasn't rolled over more than a few random times, but now she can wiggle around a lot and actually get places. I left her on the mat while I showered the other morning and when I got out of the shower she had flipped herself around 180 degrees. She was as shocked as I was! And while I was shooting this video, she scooted herself right off the activity mat.
As we move into this next phase of life with me at work and her at daycare, we look forward to the return of some normalcy in our schedules. At the same time, we are excited about all the surprises that she is sure to bring to us. Thanks for a wonderful 4 months, Sabrina Day.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Monday, April 26, 2010
Urban Baby
Not only is she international, Sabrina is now a city babe. She does taxi cabs, subways, sidewalks (even over those scary grate thingies), elevators, tall buildings and museums.
Friday night we took in the Free Friday session at the MoMA (Sabrina napped through that), then visited the 5th Avenue Apple Store (aka Brent Mecca...Sabrina woke up for that) and wrapped up the night with Chino Latino on the Upper West Side and dessert at Cafe Lalo. We left Sabrina back in the hotel after putting her to sleep on Friday night, thinking that Nana would just have to listen to the monitor..."She NEVER wakes up"...but instead Sabrina had other plans. She woke up about 20 minutes after we left and challenged Nana's already taxed brain. But by the time we got home after dinner and dessert, Sabrina was asleep soundly. She didn't sleep all that well any night that we were there (hard to blame her) and she woke up once or twice each night. We are not used to that! But usually feeding her and bouncing her on the ball (yes, we even travel to NYC with a Fit Ball) calmed her down and she went back to sleep. Brent and I realized how incredibly lucky we are that she sleeps through the night. We were both pretty useless when she woke up in the middle of the night. We are out of practice! Hopefully this doesn't become a habit.
Saturday we had the service for Tommy in the East Village, then we walked over to SoHo to his favorite restaurant called Mezzogiorno for an early dinner reception. He sure had great taste in food. The service was very nice with several people speaking, reading, crying and laughing about their memories of Tommy (Thomas H. Connell III). Sabrina got to meet his incredible daughters, Megan and Phoebe, their loving husbands, Ben and Jake, his adorable granddaughter, Lucy, his hysterical sisters, Nancy and Abigail, and fabulous ex-wives, Katherine and Stevie. What a wonderful family he left behind. Despite the occasion, it was a gorgeous spring day in New York City and the city was teeming with people out and about. We had a wonderful walk through the Village after a successful (though crowded) first subway ride for Sabrina.
That night we learned that Pam and Tom were out in NYC visiting Trevor, Liz and Lily for Lily's christening on Sunday. So we scooted uptown to Times Square and had a great French dinner with all of them. Lily and Sabrina are 6 days apart and seem to be lockstep with development and cuteness. They made a very cute pair.
Sunday we woke up to pouring rain and much cooler weather. We wandered over to a very New York style diner for breakfast, then we met up with our friends John & Don and Jill & Bryan for Indian food for lunch. Jill & Bryan showed us a swanky hotel that had a well-known coffee shop in it called Stumptown. Unfortunately Brent wasn't too impressed with the coffee there. For my part, the Earl Grey tea was fine but that's pretty hard to mess up. We went up to visit Jill & Bryan's apartment in Spanish Harlem (or SpaHa as they call it...not sure that's stuck yet!) where we got picked up by one of Brent's friends from Janesville (high school), John Zolidis. John took us to his apartment on the Upper West Side where we met his wife, Alexandra, and adorable daughters Ophelie (7) and Amelia (5). They played a very cute doll game with Sabrina and we had a very sweet little cocktail hour with them. Then down to the Metropolitan Opera at Lincoln Center to visit the fountain (and think about Tommy once again) and have dinner with Tim and Erica, Mom & Dad, Ash, and the Sandmans.
Monday we had even worse weather with rain and grey skies. We went up to the Guggenheim (finally! I had never been), then down to the World Trade Center to see the status of the construction on the Memorial. We visited a small museum showing the future memorial site and museum. They had architectural models and renderings of the site, plus videos, photos and interviews from 9/11. It was hard, as always, but good to see and remember.
Then home, on Sabrina's 6th flight, but once again she was a trooper. This was probably our most difficult flight with her awake the entire 5+ hours on the plane, but we can't complain. She's amazing. We can't believe that we've been able to pull off these past three weeks without more difficulty from her. She sure does make it easy on us sometimes. Now we'll see how another week at daycare goes. Think bottle baby!!
Friday night we took in the Free Friday session at the MoMA (Sabrina napped through that), then visited the 5th Avenue Apple Store (aka Brent Mecca...Sabrina woke up for that) and wrapped up the night with Chino Latino on the Upper West Side and dessert at Cafe Lalo. We left Sabrina back in the hotel after putting her to sleep on Friday night, thinking that Nana would just have to listen to the monitor..."She NEVER wakes up"...but instead Sabrina had other plans. She woke up about 20 minutes after we left and challenged Nana's already taxed brain. But by the time we got home after dinner and dessert, Sabrina was asleep soundly. She didn't sleep all that well any night that we were there (hard to blame her) and she woke up once or twice each night. We are not used to that! But usually feeding her and bouncing her on the ball (yes, we even travel to NYC with a Fit Ball) calmed her down and she went back to sleep. Brent and I realized how incredibly lucky we are that she sleeps through the night. We were both pretty useless when she woke up in the middle of the night. We are out of practice! Hopefully this doesn't become a habit.
Saturday we had the service for Tommy in the East Village, then we walked over to SoHo to his favorite restaurant called Mezzogiorno for an early dinner reception. He sure had great taste in food. The service was very nice with several people speaking, reading, crying and laughing about their memories of Tommy (Thomas H. Connell III). Sabrina got to meet his incredible daughters, Megan and Phoebe, their loving husbands, Ben and Jake, his adorable granddaughter, Lucy, his hysterical sisters, Nancy and Abigail, and fabulous ex-wives, Katherine and Stevie. What a wonderful family he left behind. Despite the occasion, it was a gorgeous spring day in New York City and the city was teeming with people out and about. We had a wonderful walk through the Village after a successful (though crowded) first subway ride for Sabrina.
That night we learned that Pam and Tom were out in NYC visiting Trevor, Liz and Lily for Lily's christening on Sunday. So we scooted uptown to Times Square and had a great French dinner with all of them. Lily and Sabrina are 6 days apart and seem to be lockstep with development and cuteness. They made a very cute pair.
Sunday we woke up to pouring rain and much cooler weather. We wandered over to a very New York style diner for breakfast, then we met up with our friends John & Don and Jill & Bryan for Indian food for lunch. Jill & Bryan showed us a swanky hotel that had a well-known coffee shop in it called Stumptown. Unfortunately Brent wasn't too impressed with the coffee there. For my part, the Earl Grey tea was fine but that's pretty hard to mess up. We went up to visit Jill & Bryan's apartment in Spanish Harlem (or SpaHa as they call it...not sure that's stuck yet!) where we got picked up by one of Brent's friends from Janesville (high school), John Zolidis. John took us to his apartment on the Upper West Side where we met his wife, Alexandra, and adorable daughters Ophelie (7) and Amelia (5). They played a very cute doll game with Sabrina and we had a very sweet little cocktail hour with them. Then down to the Metropolitan Opera at Lincoln Center to visit the fountain (and think about Tommy once again) and have dinner with Tim and Erica, Mom & Dad, Ash, and the Sandmans.
Monday we had even worse weather with rain and grey skies. We went up to the Guggenheim (finally! I had never been), then down to the World Trade Center to see the status of the construction on the Memorial. We visited a small museum showing the future memorial site and museum. They had architectural models and renderings of the site, plus videos, photos and interviews from 9/11. It was hard, as always, but good to see and remember.
Then home, on Sabrina's 6th flight, but once again she was a trooper. This was probably our most difficult flight with her awake the entire 5+ hours on the plane, but we can't complain. She's amazing. We can't believe that we've been able to pull off these past three weeks without more difficulty from her. She sure does make it easy on us sometimes. Now we'll see how another week at daycare goes. Think bottle baby!!
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Back to work and daycare
What a week! I started back at work on Monday and Sabrina went to daycare at The Cottage in Boulder. Brent and I took her together on the first day (to make sure I wasn't a blubbering mess leaving my baby girl!) and it all went fine. I didn't even cry at all. Unfortunately, Sabrina wouldn't take the bottle Monday or Tuesday so I spent time running back and forth down 30th Street to go rescue my bad bad baby. Then I left work early each day to pick her up. But, shockingly by Wednesday (only her third day!) she took the bottle and had about 3 oz., which is still only about 1/5 of what she SHOULD have in a day, but she was in a good mood all day so I never went over to the daycare in the hopes that that would help her figure it out. And on Thursday, she ate almost 9 oz.! She can be taught! (Jill, that Aladdin reference is for you). Hopefully she is getting it.
Sadly, we received bad news on Tuesday morning that my mom's brother, Tommy, passed away over the weekend. Mom hopped on a plane on Tuesday afternoon, we figured out plans with the rest of the family, and we bought tickets to go out to NYC Friday through Monday. Ashley will fly out from SF; Tim and Erica will drive down on Friday night; Dad will fly out with us and then work from NYC next week. As devastated as we all are about the reason for the trip, we are trying to make the best of it by seeing friends and family, and taking Brent to New York where he hasn't been since he was working in the World Trade Center in 2000. We hate to derail Sabrina's good progress on the bottle at daycare, but some things you just can't plan.
On a happier note, Sabrina got to meet her new friend, Triana Calderon Sievers, who was born on Tuesday April 20 to Alicia and Pablo. We visited Triana at the hospital Wednesday and Thursday so Sabrina got to teach Triana all sorts of good tricks like breastfeeding, pooping and peeing. I think they are destined to be good friends.
So, off to NYC we go. Rest in Peace Tommy. You will be dearly missed. We are so sad that Sabrina never got a chance to meet you.
Sadly, we received bad news on Tuesday morning that my mom's brother, Tommy, passed away over the weekend. Mom hopped on a plane on Tuesday afternoon, we figured out plans with the rest of the family, and we bought tickets to go out to NYC Friday through Monday. Ashley will fly out from SF; Tim and Erica will drive down on Friday night; Dad will fly out with us and then work from NYC next week. As devastated as we all are about the reason for the trip, we are trying to make the best of it by seeing friends and family, and taking Brent to New York where he hasn't been since he was working in the World Trade Center in 2000. We hate to derail Sabrina's good progress on the bottle at daycare, but some things you just can't plan.
On a happier note, Sabrina got to meet her new friend, Triana Calderon Sievers, who was born on Tuesday April 20 to Alicia and Pablo. We visited Triana at the hospital Wednesday and Thursday so Sabrina got to teach Triana all sorts of good tricks like breastfeeding, pooping and peeing. I think they are destined to be good friends.
So, off to NYC we go. Rest in Peace Tommy. You will be dearly missed. We are so sad that Sabrina never got a chance to meet you.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
International Traveler in Mexico
Sabrina has gone INTERNATIONAL!
We had a fantastic trip to Cabo San Lucas with the Clarke grandparents, the Baumgartners, Suz & GEK and Joan. Sabrina wore a Hawaiian shirt on the plane and got right into the vacation mode. She played with toys, hung out with her grandparents, and charmed us all on the plane ride down. She loved getting off the plane on the stairs and walking out into the sunshine (or maybe that's me who loves that, but I'm sure she enjoyed it too). A little emergency feeding on the way down ("road boob!") and then we were poolside. We took her swimming every day in the pool and she LOVED the game of somebody going under water and popping up right in front of her. she laughed and laughed whenever we did that...especially Nana! We tackled the bumpy streets of Cabo with her stroller on the first night, used it as a shopping cart for the essentials at the grocery store, and met Joan at a wonderful restaurant in town. Tuesday we got Suz and GEK, we played on the beach and at the pool, then had a great dinner at Pancho's where a mariachi band played a Mexican version of the Chicken Dance! Brent was in gringo heaven. The Baumgartners arrived on Wednesday with their own little world traveler, Cecilia, in tow. We swept them off to see the sunset from the Whale Watcher Bar at the Finestera, then a crazy, whacky dinner at Mi Casa (with multiple mariachi bands). Cecilia let us know that she loves Mexican fish sticks by eating them for about an hour until we picked her up to take her home. Thursday and Friday contained more fun beach and pool time where Cecilia showed off her underwater swimming skills and Sabrina got more comfortable in the water. We had fun dipping the girls' toes in the ocean too, until a mean wave came and crashed down on top of them. It was slightly dramatic for a few moments, but the quick skills of Brent and Annie kept the girls safe and sound. Cecilia actually did a great back float Survival Swimming move when the wave hit her! Way to go Celia! All in all, they both loved the water and we had a great time imaging this trip in 5 years. Craziness!
We had another fun dinner on the marina Friday night where Sabrina fell in love with all the lights from the restaurants on the pier. The girls also got adorable little Mexican dresses at a stall in town. Saturday morning we took the kiddos to a "zero entry" pool at a resort on the Pacific side of town where they got to play in the water one more time. Brent and I took Sabrina down to watch the waves crashing against the beach, which lulled her right to sleep. I guess she would like the "waves" setting on her Sleep Sheep. We'll have to try that. We packed up, got a ride to the airport with Nana and Poppy, and flew on home. Sabrina was an absolute delight on the flight home as well...even during her rough evening hours...and was actually laughing throughout the entire customs line at DIA! We love our world traveler.
We had a fantastic trip to Cabo San Lucas with the Clarke grandparents, the Baumgartners, Suz & GEK and Joan. Sabrina wore a Hawaiian shirt on the plane and got right into the vacation mode. She played with toys, hung out with her grandparents, and charmed us all on the plane ride down. She loved getting off the plane on the stairs and walking out into the sunshine (or maybe that's me who loves that, but I'm sure she enjoyed it too). A little emergency feeding on the way down ("road boob!") and then we were poolside. We took her swimming every day in the pool and she LOVED the game of somebody going under water and popping up right in front of her. she laughed and laughed whenever we did that...especially Nana! We tackled the bumpy streets of Cabo with her stroller on the first night, used it as a shopping cart for the essentials at the grocery store, and met Joan at a wonderful restaurant in town. Tuesday we got Suz and GEK, we played on the beach and at the pool, then had a great dinner at Pancho's where a mariachi band played a Mexican version of the Chicken Dance! Brent was in gringo heaven. The Baumgartners arrived on Wednesday with their own little world traveler, Cecilia, in tow. We swept them off to see the sunset from the Whale Watcher Bar at the Finestera, then a crazy, whacky dinner at Mi Casa (with multiple mariachi bands). Cecilia let us know that she loves Mexican fish sticks by eating them for about an hour until we picked her up to take her home. Thursday and Friday contained more fun beach and pool time where Cecilia showed off her underwater swimming skills and Sabrina got more comfortable in the water. We had fun dipping the girls' toes in the ocean too, until a mean wave came and crashed down on top of them. It was slightly dramatic for a few moments, but the quick skills of Brent and Annie kept the girls safe and sound. Cecilia actually did a great back float Survival Swimming move when the wave hit her! Way to go Celia! All in all, they both loved the water and we had a great time imaging this trip in 5 years. Craziness!
We had another fun dinner on the marina Friday night where Sabrina fell in love with all the lights from the restaurants on the pier. The girls also got adorable little Mexican dresses at a stall in town. Saturday morning we took the kiddos to a "zero entry" pool at a resort on the Pacific side of town where they got to play in the water one more time. Brent and I took Sabrina down to watch the waves crashing against the beach, which lulled her right to sleep. I guess she would like the "waves" setting on her Sleep Sheep. We'll have to try that. We packed up, got a ride to the airport with Nana and Poppy, and flew on home. Sabrina was an absolute delight on the flight home as well...even during her rough evening hours...and was actually laughing throughout the entire customs line at DIA! We love our world traveler.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Sabrina working on her motor skills
Sabrina has just started playing with her toys differently. While it might not seem THAT exciting to anybody but me (who thinks that everything she does is amazing and adorable!) Sabrina has started deliberately using her hands to do things. This morning I caught her on video spinning a ball on her toy. The neat part is that most of the books say that she's supposed to be doing exactly this at exactly this time. It's really fun to read that in a book and then see her do it, just like they describe, within a few days. Child development is pretty incredible! She's also started staring at her arms and hands much more often, like she's trying to figure them out. Our other big news is that Sabrina did a daycare practice day yesterday. It was probably more difficult for me and Brent than it was for her, but it's good for all of us to get some practice. Brent and I dropped her off after lunch, I went to work, and Sabrina stayed at daycare for about 3 1/2 hours (and I only drove over once to check on her!). I also figured out that it takes between 4-5 minutes for me to get from my office to her daycare which gives me good peace of mind. She's really not that far away from us. We're doing the same thing again this morning, then we are packing up for a weekend of skiing in the mountains, then re-packing for a week at the beach! What a life.
Friday, April 2, 2010
Happy Easter
tomorrow for Easter weekend. Sabrina and I are getting in the mood.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Indisputable Paternity Proof
Ever since the minute Sabrina was born, I've been hearing how much she looks like her mother. Her furrowed brow, her hair, nose, lips, etc, all mom, mom, mom, mom. I like to take credit for her eyes, but even those have been compared to her maternal grand father. This is all starting to change. After hitting 3 months, Sabrina's looking more and more like me.
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