Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Little Drummer Girl

Penny found a new toy today and decided to make some music with it:




Tuesday, July 30, 2013

New hairdid

Penny got a new hairdo at daycare today.


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Keeps the hair out of her eyes-

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And is darn cute to boot.

Monday, July 29, 2013

Penny's First Birthday



We were so happy with our decision to travel to Brooklyn to celebrate Penny's first birthday. We were able to have both mine and Gabe's family join us in the celebration as well as local friends and those who traveled from a bit further away.

The morning started with a first birthday baba:

[caption id="attachment_3883" align="alignnone" width="480"]Good Morning Birthday Girl! Good Morning Birthday Girl![/caption]

Then Penny opened her cards from Mommy and Daddy:

and her first ever birthday present:






As expected she enjoyed the balloon more than the gift (they were shoes, after all ;).






We went upstairs and spent some time with Gabe's aunt, sister and mom before getting ready for Penny's big shindig.






[gallery type="square" ids="3888,3887,3886"]

She did a little birthday morning dance, too:






[caption id="attachment_3885" align="alignnone" width="480"]Reading Tita Cora's card. It was very interesting :). Reading Tita Cora's card. It was very interesting :).[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_3897" align="alignnone" width="480"]Ready to party! Ready to party![/caption]

Penny had pizza for the first time at her party...
[gallery columns="2" type="square" ids="3910,3911,3912,3913"]
She most definitely enjoyed it.

And of course cake and a song for dessert:






Penny received so many lovely gifts for her birthday. Everyone was extremely generous.
[gallery type="square" ids="3900,3901,3902,3903,3904,3905,3906,3907,3908"]

We felt lucky to have so many special people in our lives help share in the celebration. Thank you all for joining us!
[gallery type="square" ids="3919,3920,3917,3918,3921,3922,3923,3915,3916"]

We had a wonderful day filled with loved ones and special memories of such a big milestone in our daughter's life. We love you Miss Penelope, our 1 year old sweet baby girl!


[gallery type="square" ids="3931,3932,3930"]

Sunday, July 28, 2013

Birthday Kicks 2

Here Penny models the other pair of sneakers we bought her for her birthday.


Gabe chose her outfit. He felt it complimented the sneakers well.


She was the hit at our friend Patches birthday celebration.

[caption id="attachment_3877" align="alignnone" width="560"]Hanging with Uncle Jack. Hanging with Uncle Jack.[/caption]

Hoodie from the (old) Hood

We bought Penny this sweatshirt when we went to Brooklyn back in April.


It's still a little big but we think it "fits".

Saturday, July 27, 2013

Tar-jhey Thursday

Mommy and Penny went to Target on Thursday.


Someone wasn't impressed.

Friday, July 26, 2013

Friday Hi

Guess who learned how to turn on the sound machine?


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This girl! (And proud if it.)

Thursday, July 25, 2013

Things to Come?



I had what I think I can assume is a hint of what may come with mealtimes this evening. I was so pleased to make Penny a yummy (or so I thought) dinner frittata with cheese, broccoli and pasta, all things she likes and as we learned earlier this week, eggs with cheese are great.   After just a bite or two, all of it ended up on the floor and she refused to eat it. So dinner ended up being shredded cheese, tofu and yogurt. Worse dinners could be had, but I guess I'll be eating the second half of the frittata that is in the fridge.

It made me think of my mom and me as a child. I was a fussy eater and probably complained more that not at the meals she made for us. I now have a taste of what that must have felt like. Sorry Mom... but rest assured payback is probably on its way for me :).

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Spoon to Mouth (for the most part)

Penny now likes to put the spoon in her mouth, rather than have us feed her. Not every meal or all the time yet, but I will load the spoon up and hope the food sticks because before she gets it (usually) in her mouth she holds it up high, so proud, over her head. You can imagine how I hold my breath until it's made it to its destination:).

The thicker the food the better. Yogurt is not ideal, so a dip in is all she gets rather than a loaded spoon.

[caption id="attachment_3850" align="alignnone" width="480"]Why so serious? Why so serious?[/caption]

And sometimes her aim is a little off...


But she's getting better:






We'll work on that last part :).

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Loves Her Boo

So sweet!

Eggcellent

Yummy breakfast on Sunday of silver dollar pancakes from Trader Joe's and an egg made special by Daddy for Penny.

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She ate some of the egg...
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...but then decided she wasn't on board and it ended up on the floor. The addition of cheese made the rest of the egg disappear for lunch on Monday. Half was reserved in the fridge, not picked up from the floor :).
Cheese makes everything better. She is her Mommy's daughter.

Saturday, July 20, 2013

1 Year Wellness Check

We visited the doctor yesterday for Penny's 1 year checkup.


She weighs 19 pounds, 6 ounces and is 29 inches long! This is way up from her 9 month checkup when she was 17 pounds and 27-3/4 inches. She is now in the 50th percentile for both height and weight. She did have 2 shots that were no fun, but she was quickly smiling again and even trying her hand at working the scale on the table:


Miss Penny is happy and healthy and growing and we are all good :).

Birthday Kicks 1

One of the 2 pairs of sneakers we brought Penny for her birthday. Stylin.


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Feet up

A bit too relaxed while eating lunch, I think. :)


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Breakfast at Penny's

We've incorporate breakfast into Penny's daily routine. Here's her first: strawberries and french toast...

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Yum.

Friday, July 19, 2013

Friday Hi

Last week was our last "I'm xx weeks old today" post. The milestone of 52 weeks seemed appropriate to retire the weekly updates. But we know its fun to have a post every Friday so now I introduce "Friday Hi". Just a random post each week so we can, as the title suggests, say hi :).


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On our way to Penny's one year wellness checkup. Reminded me of this photo from back in September. She hasn't changed that much :).

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Pacifier Persistant

I had to share this video Gabe took of Penny during our trip to Colorado. When we travel we take "The Penny Bag", a large Land's End tote bag that the Collins family generously gave us when Penelope was born. It has her name embroidered on it. hence "The Penny Bag". I hook the pacifier we give her for naps to the inside of it for safe keeping. This is what happened when Miss Penny discovered it:




Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Baby Cool

[caption id="attachment_3803" align="alignnone" width="480"] July 6, 2013[/caption]

Oh yeah.

Saturday, July 13, 2013

12 Months Old



We made it. Miss Penny has hit the big 0-1. It's hard to believe a year has past but when you look at this little person, and how she has grown and blossomed, it's amazing to think that all of it has only been a year.

Penny is a hugger now and it is the best feeling ever. She knows what hugs and kisses are and gives them quite readily, but always to Boo, who has become her buddy now, not just her monthly chair partner in pics. She sees him and will either pull him towards her and put her head down or, if Boo is on the floor she will lean over and lay on him:

Its "aww" worthy.

Penny knows where Mommy's nose is:





It's amazing to teach her new things and see how she absorbs so quickly now. Blow kisses and waving hi are getting better (waving bye has been mastered for some time now).

She is pulling herself up a lot now and has started to cruise, where she takes little steps while holding on to something. In our case it's the ottoman in our living room, and I hadn't realized she was doing it until I looked at her and she was at one end, and then looked at her again and she was at the other :).

[caption id="attachment_3761" align="alignnone" width="560"]My view while putting on my makeup in the morning. My view while putting on my makeup in the morning.[/caption]



Penny is a FAST crawler...she in another room before you know it, especially now that she can get up the stairs.
We play a game where I crawl behind her (preferably on the carpet, my old knees don't agree with granite floors) and say "I'm gonna get you!" and she squeals and tries to crawl faster away from me (*I eventually do 'get her').

Penelope loves to dance. She hears music and she will rock back and forth if sitting. She does this funny little shimmy thing in her car seat. And if she's standing, she jumps and bounces. Its pure joy:






New foods have included small tastes of red meat and turkey meatballs from Trader Joe's (a favorite in our house) and she had lentils for the first time! We've also added peas, corn and asparagus.

She also eat from a fork now:






She will eat from her snack cup now. Although she quickly figured out that if she holds one of the flaps down with her thumb she can shake the cup and get the snacks out much easier. So much for it being no-mess :)


She still loves her books and will sit and flip through pages for quite a while:


Penny has definitely entered into the separation anxiety phase. She's clingy to both me and Gabe and doesn't really like to be away from us unless she's at daycare. We are OK with this though because we get that many more full-body, with-all-her-might hugs. They are wonderful. She is wonderful. This year has been the hardest, most challenging year but also the most rewarding and undeniably the most joy filled year because of our amazing Penelope Sue. We can't imagine our family without her and know how so very blessed we are. Penny, thank you for letting us be your parents. We love you so.



And our outtakes:

[caption id="attachment_3792" align="alignnone" width="560"]Ok, I'll put then on... "Ok, I'll put then on..."[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_3791" align="alignnone" width="560"]It's not as easy as it looks... "It's not as easy as it looks..."[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_3790" align="alignnone" width="480"] "How about on you, Boo..."[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_3793" align="alignnone" width="560"]Best Friends. Best Friends.[/caption]

Friday, July 12, 2013

Family Pic

On the eve of Penny's 1st birthday. Family time before bedtime.

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Penny's Birth Story



A year ago today .....

I started feeling contractions during the day on Thursday July 12. I was shopping at Fresh & Easy (buying food to stock up the freezer for when baby arrived). I knew I was feeling something. But I think I was in a bit of denial. It was 9 days before me due date. Plus I didn’t feel I was ready. I still had a week of maternity leave and much I had planned to do - I still had a manicure/pedicure scheduled for the following week :).

I called Gabe and told him I was feeling something and it could be the very beginning signs of early labor. I came home and made lasagna, chili and sausage and peppers for the freezer meals.

For dinner we had some of the lasagna. I was still feeling ok at this point. Later we would see that lasagna a number of times again. I threw up during some of my contractions.

At this time we had figured that I was in early labor but the contractions weren't that uncomfortable or that frequent so we thought we had time, and maybe we could even get some sleep that night. (Not so much).

I remember standing at the kitchen sink thinking “This is it. This is really happening” and I started crying. Nervous, excited, scared. The magnitude finally hit me and we were going to have a baby, we were going to be parents!

At around 10:30pm we called our doula Patti because things had started to get a bit more intense. We wanted to let her know what was going on and to be prepared for a call in the morning (little did we know that it would be at 3am).

Gabe took a walk to Walgreens for lollipops and drain stopper for bath.

I was starting to feel more and more uncomfortable and thought a bath would help but we couldn’t find the stopper.

For the next few hours I lay in the bath making my way through contractions that were coming fast but not lasting that long. That was the reason why we still thought we had time. We were told to call the doctor when my contractions were 3 minutes apart, lasting for a minute, for at least an hour. They were happening faster that 3 minutes but not lasting 1 minute long.

Gabe and I both tried to nap a bit, me in the bathtub and him right outside the bathroom on the floor in the hallway :).

At around 3 a.m I asked Gabe to call Patti, that I didn’t think I could wait until the morning.

She made it over by 5 and we quickly decided it was time to get across the street to the hospital. It was still dark outside and the stairway lights in our apartment building are on a timer and were not on, so I knew I needed to make it down fast in order to not have a contraction in the dark hallway. So after one passed at our front door, I ran down the stairs and made it outside where I had another on our front stoop. Gabe was gathering our stuff and met us downstairs. I then remembered I forgot my insurance card. He ran back up to get it while Patti and I waiting in the early morning cold. I remember it felt good and slightly refreshing, and then had another contraction.

The hospital is literally across the street, and probably a 2 minute walk from our door to their entrance. I had to stop twice to have contractions. One leaning on a lamp post, the other on a low brick wall outside the hospital. I remember Gabe being worried about me putting my pillow on the wall because it would get dirty :).

We made it into triage where they assess whether or not you are in labor and to be admitted (no question there!). I could hardly lay still long enough for them to check me. But they did, and we found out I was 9 centimeters dilated (you start pushing at 10)!

We were all really surprised and knew that we wouldn’t have much longer before we would meet our little one for the first time. Excitement, anticipation and nerves were definitely growing. My plan had been to try an unmedicated delivery but maybe, in the back of my mind knew that I would probably get an epidural if the pain was that intense. Being as I wasn’t barely able to lay still long enough for the 10 second check-up, I knew sitting still for the 5+ minutes they need to administer the medication was out of the question. I was OK with it - the contractions were incredibly uncomfortable but that they were ending just at that moment when I thought I couldn’t take anymore.

Gabe called my dad to let him know that baby was on the way and that we would keep him posted.

The following are notes that Patti took for us. Another benefit to having a doula- she helped document the progress it all. I’ve added some thoughts as well….

We were escorted up to the Labor & Deliver department, by a nurse who sadly, was sorely in need of an attitude adjustment; she had insisted that Lesley ride in a wheelchair [It was SO uncomfortable for me to sit. While standing I was able to at least find some relief from the pressure of the contractions] and for all intents and purposes, was simply not a good personality fit for Lesley or Gabe.

As we settled into room 233, I encouraged Gabe to go speak to the charge nurse to get a new nurse, he did, and before we knew it, we were getting along splendidly with a lovely nurse named Lani. [I was unaware of this exchange or that Gabe went out to do this, but I was so glad he did. Xoxo to him. We later found out that we were definitely not the first ones to ask for her to be replaced.]

At 6am Lani did an exam and felt that Lesley’s cervix and the baby were the same as they had been upon admission in triage.

At 7am Lani did another exam, she said, it is essentially unchanged. This is actually a common phenomenon, once in the hospital, labor progress frequently stalls out. [I was spending a lot of time in the shower. The water was soothing. Needless to say I was getting slightly discouraged but Gabe, Patti and Lani were very encouraging. I found that standing, leaning over the bed while having contractions helped them to be tolerable. Patti put pressure on my hips while I swayed from side to side. Gabe was kneeling across me on the other side of the bed pressing on my hands (Patti told us there was a point there that was supposed to help with pain). It helped having him hold my hands.]

Dr. Izumi Cabarra came in at 7:30am, Lesley’s bag of waters opened and the amniotic fluid was clear (Hooray, this is a very good sign that the baby is tolerating the labor well.) Dr. Cabarra’s exam revealed that Lesley’s cervix was now dilated to 9+ centimeters! [This was so encouraging, I just needed to know that things were moving forward.]

Lesley was feeling a lot of intensity.  At 8am Lani did another exam, she found that Lesley’s cervix was “complete” (fully dilated) and the baby was at +2 station (descending deeply through the pelvis, and well on the way out, YAY!)  This was excellent and encouraging news, signifying fantastic progress!! [I really REALLY wanted to push but was told that I needed to wait just a bit longer. This, I was not happy about.]

The nursing shift was changing, so Lani wished us well and introduced us to Maria; Dr. Cynthia Farner came by to check in.

8:30am Lesley was lying on her left side, trying her best to rest in between the contractions. [Not much luck there and I was getting leg cramps too.]

This was when we were told it was go time and that Lesley could start pushing…

This is where it got real. I don’t remember much of this but Gabe said the noises that were coming out of me were animalistic and I believe him. It really is amazing how your body does what it does. I took over and helped me get the job done. With each contraction my body helped me push. There were some moments where I wasn’t sure I could do anymore. I was really tired but I knew it couldn’t last forever, that maybe the next push would be the one where we would meet our baby. It didn’t last forever but it did last for 3 hours. The very end was the most intense pain. This is when I finally cursed J. (Patti said she was surprised I hadn’t yet). It was something along the lines of “Get this fucking thing out of me” (sorry baby girl J). A few more intense pushes and baby was out and immediately being moved up on my chest. At this point we needed to be reminded that we wanted Gabe to discover and announce the sex…

“It’s a girl!”

...

It was surreal. 1 minute ago this little person was inside me, and then she was curled up on my chest. She was perfect.

We spent the next couple of hours just absorbing this little human being. We wanted to have as much skin on skin with her before she was taken to be measured and tested, etc. I remember laying there with her nursing (as she took pretty easily) and just staring at her, stroking her hair that was softer than anything I think I had even felt before. Trying to register that this little tiny person was ours. That we would be forever changed as the parents of this amazing creature. And not being able to comprehend the joy that she would bring us. And how incredibly lucky and blessed we are.