Friday, December 31, 2010

gearing up for the new year

and celebrating her first new year's eve with some bacon, lettuce, tomatoes and Peroni. It's all that her parents are able to muster after the Christmas celebration, a week of general maneuvering around the broken down car, a very intense afternoon parental discussion and five and a half hours of driving from grocery to grocery and fish monger to fish monger in search of red fish, which is apparently only available fresh if you live in Louisiana or Mississippi. (What??? says Mama.)

In reality, it was only two and a half hours, but what with the screams of the unhappy baby coming from the backseat, it felt like longer. And certainly, judging from the intensity of those screams, it must've felt like a lot longer to the baby, too.

It's been a big week for our bitty little bun, and she's held up like a champ. She was completely patient with her Christmas Eve dress (and matching bloomers) and managed to make it through the wonderful Christmas Eve service of Lessons & Carols with no fuss. She took a leisurely view of her first Christmas morning and slept through the majority of present time, which due to a different time table, stretched into her morning 'nap'.

In honor of our dear little Isla, we decorated her first Christmas tree with a variety of handmade tartan roses. Though the tree looked pretty, Isla seemed to notice only the lights. Her favorite ones were the multi-colored blinking ones Mama stashed in a clear vase as a pseudo baby-sitter while she was trying to accomplish a few tasks (without dangling the baby) one day.

It's hard to believe that she's experiencing her first holiday season. It's hard to believe how quickly it's passed us. It's hard to believe that in a few, short hours, the year that saw her birth will be over, and a new one will begin in its place. It's hard to think about how much time has already gone by, how quickly the days move, how speedily she grows. We will wake up tomorrow in two-thousand-something, and our sweet, tiny baby girl will be grown.

Our sweet, Christmas morning Isla...


Wednesday, December 22, 2010

24 weeks old

It's been a big month so far, and we're only a couple weeks in. This month Isla had her first bottle. She also got her first cold, and had her first 'emergency' trip to the doctor's. And she narrowly survived her first attempted-escape from her bouncy seat. She's doing great, the aforementioned incidents not withstanding, and we-the-family continue to press on as a foursome.

Her last non-life-threatening visit to the pediatrician had her weighing in at a sweet fourteen pounds and measuring 26 inches long, head to heel. She took her shots in the same manner that would any sane person experiencing the quick stabs of four back-to-back injections (including the one the nurse precedes with, 'this is the one that really, really burns') - she took a deep, shocked breath in and let it out in screams that did not subside until her tiny face was completely crimson. And who would blame her?

The curious incident of the baby and her bouncy seat took place while her tired mother was attempting to get a fast shower. Bun-baby waited until her mother was good and sudsy and then somehow managed to propel/throw/stretch/otherwise maneuver herself over the side of her bouncy chair. Which would've been bad enough, but like all the instructions say, mama had strapped that baby into the chair with the 3 point harness. So the baby, though partially out of the chair she apparently detests, was not completely free. She was instead, dangling by that 3 point safety harness with her head either on or very near the hard, cold, tile floor.

Her mother is not sure if her head actually hit the floor, or if she was just dangling there, because when she poked her head out of the shower to see why the baby was crying, her first thought (and spoken word) was, 'oh, crap!' and she bounded out of the shower, soap and all to rescue the small, unhappy child. And who would blame her for crying, what with her top-heavy body hanging, rag doll like over the edge of the metal and plastic frame, and her own inability to lift/pull/stretch/ or otherwise maneuver herself back into the hated chair? Not to mention how awful the safety harness must've felt around her poor little abdomen.

All that, and the not-to-be-detailed blood spitting incident leads us to today, where the sweet, mostly happy Bun is learning to stand (entirely too early for the likings of we-the-parents). She loves her big sister, and is possibly cutting some teeth. She still loves music and loves being held. We-the-family love holding her.



Monday, November 8, 2010

sleeping at sweet sixteen

Sixteen weeks, that is. Today she is three months and twenty-six days old. It's hard to imagine that she's about to hit that official four month mark already. Most of the time it feels like she was just born.

Right now, she's sleeping peacefully and noisily on a pillow next to me. She still has the raspy breath sounds she had at birth. Even though the pediatrician says it's fine, I still find myself listening closely to her to make sure she's not in some kind of distress.

It's been a big weekend for the bitty little bun baby. She spent it with both sets of grandparents, her big sister and two aunties, celebrating her and her big sister's baptism. Isla was amazing during the service, falling asleep in her daddy's arms during the service and then only wailing a tiny bit when the cold water hit her head. She went back to sleep not long afterwards.

She's starting to pull herself into a sitting position using just her abs. It's truly incredible to watch her body work. She's so very small and so very strong and so very fragile. The juxtaposition of her strength and frailty boggles my mind. I feel so thankful to be able to watch this, to watch her (and her sister) grow and change.

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

ten eleven weeks old

Ten weeks and growing. At least she was when ten weeks old when this post was first started. Now, she's a growing eleven week old, full up on vaccines and ready to travel. First trip, Paris.**

Our bitty baby is now a sweet bundle of ten pounds, thirteen point five ounces. That's just a little bit more than two bags of sugar if you're counting by sweet, though the truth is, ten pounds of dixie crystals is nowhere near close enough to measure the sweetness that is this baby girl.

Isla is tall, or perhaps long is a better description. Her 9-week check-up measured her head-to-heel length at 23 and a quarter inches. Though the girth of her tiny little body still fits in newborn size clothes, her long torso and legs are stretching the limits of her 3-to-6-month-old sleepers. She is swallowed up in the extra fabric, but is, at least, able to stretch out her legs.

Her disposition is mild, though she requires much more attention in this infant stage than did her big sister. She is a good sleeper, snoozing nearly every night for five consecutive hours, though there are occasional mid-slumber awakenings for a snack to tide her over 'til dawn. She likes to be held, she hates to stay in a wet or dirty diaper for one second longer than it takes her to utilize it, and she adores her big sister, smiling for her almost every time she sees her.

She smiles now and laughs, and still makes those sweet little grunty noises (the same little grunty noises that had us and our night nurses slightly concerned the evening she was born) almost every moment that she breathes. She can hold her head up for a fairly good length of time, and has even started to roll from her tummy to her back.

She does not cry often (her sister may disagree on this point, and would probably, if asked, relate that her baby sis cries all the time), but when she does, she really, really does. This child will not starve or suffer from the smallest amount of discomfort, for her wails will summon anyone and everyone within hearing distance - and with her lung power, that's a lot of folks - to her aid without delay. We-the-parents rue any miscalculation in feeding times while driving as those last couple of blocks home are near unbearable with a hungry Isla riding in the back.


**We're not going to Paris. Not yet, anyway. Her first trip was to Jacksonville.

Thursday, September 9, 2010

eight weeks and two days old

and resting. Pretty well. Last night our little Bun slept from 12:30 ante meridiem clean through to five-point-five hours into the ninth of September. Not to be outdone, our growing Bee slept, alone in her bed, without waking up once from roughly twenty-three-hundred until nine-thirty this morning.

What???!!!!???!!!!

Yes. And that means that we-the-parents also slept, quietly, without waking (or at least waking to feed or comfort someone other than ourselves) for five beautiful hours.

Isla is resting now. Right now, this very moment, as I type this in fact. She has just returned from her baby shower (how much fun is this to do after they are actually outside the womb!) where she was adorable, awake, and quiet - aside from her standard repertoire of breathie, gruntie, baby noises (remember, the 'ie' makes it feminine ...). The super-sweet friends that Dadoo works with made her a special party lunch, complete with delicious chocolate cupcakes, sweet tea and yummy subs from Mama's new favorite sandwich shop. Her big sister got to come, too, and all four of us had a blast.

In other recent Isla news, she's a total pro at head-lifting and throwing, though like her sister before her, she doesn't love tummy time yet. She's sweet and snuggly and likes to be held - a lot - and when she's smiling, she's really, really, really smiling. She smiles most at her big sister, which in turn makes we-the-parents really, really, really smile, too.

Here's what a Bun looks like at eight weeks:


Friday, August 27, 2010

six weeks old

Our sweet girl is smiling now, especially when she has the chance to hang out with her big sister. Those tiny smiles are amazing.





Saturday, August 21, 2010

a burrito

A sweet, warm, adorably swaddled burrito baby.



*At first, Isla did not like this swaddle. Her feet were too short to stay in the bottom, and she didn't like her arms tied down. A matter of weeks is all it took for her to grow an inch and not fuss about the arms. New moms, you need this blanket. (thank you Mrs. Z for this blanket ... it was a miracle for Averie and we love it again for Isla.)

Friday, August 13, 2010

4 weeks, three days and eating

Bun-baby is officially a month old, whether you're counting by weeks or days. Fast, fast, super-fast, says Mama, as time flies by us again. It's incredible how quickly the days go. Except for those super slow parts when our Bee-baby-now-pre-schooler is out of sorts at the exact same moment our Bun-baby is screaming for food. Those parts do not fly by. They seem to linger, dissipating at an unbelievably sluggish pace.

The tiny baby sister is a sweet one, spending most of her daytime moments asleep and waking for conversation in the evenings while she enjoys (endless) hours of multi-course, specially prepared meals. She's cuddly, and soft, and growing. A lot.

Our girl came home from the hospital a bitty, teeny six pounds and eleven ounces. So small and wrinkly, with not a bit of baby-fat anywhere. Two weeks later, she was back to her birth weight, and a mere twelve days after that, she's surpassed her big sister's birth weight at 8lbs, 7oz. That's a big jump in the percentile chart, and some serious encouragement for a tired Mama who wasn't quite sure if her little Bun was getting enough to eat. Turns out, she totally is.

Not to let her height out-do her weight, Bun's head to toe statistics show an increase as well. She's up from her 20 inch birth length by 1.5 inches to a super-model tall 21 and a half inches.

Big sis accompanied her to this latest doctor's appointment, and was a model of perfect behavior and decorum. The baby sis was slightly less amiable, and graced the entire office with an operatic show of lung power. In the bitty one's defense, she was hungry (though she'd eaten but an hour earlier), and when she's hungry, well, she's just a tiny bit less than content.

Current family status:
Bun-baby: temporarily full, clean, and sleeping on Mama's bed.
Bee-baby: full, clean, dressed and playing with her Thomas, her bunny, her duck and the salt & pepper mills.
Dadoo: tired, @work, tired, still the cutest boy I ever saw.
Mama: tired, @(home)work, tired, tired, and thankful.
George RĂ©moulade: tired, frightened, hiding in the bathroom laundry.

Sunday, August 8, 2010

... three weeks old

And back to her birth weight. While we took her home a mere six pounds and eleven ounces, our bitty baby girl is now back to her initial seven pounds, three ounces, plus one extra ounce. We-the-parents are glad to know she's growing, and still a bit amazed at how tiny she still is. Mama is secretly pleased that she has the chance to keep her so small just a little bit longer.

These first weeks disappeared quickly for all of us amid a blur of diapers, family visits and trips back to the lab for bilirubin tests. One moment she was born, and a short minute later our tiny Isla is almost one month old. How fast it goes again.

Here she is ...



*** Many thanks to our dear friend Tim
for this gorgeous photo of our baby girl
.
***

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

here

Isla Mireille Larson
Born 6:17 p.m. July 13th, 2010
7 lbs, 3 oz, 20 in.


Tuesday, July 13, 2010

on the way

Right now!

Mama types this from the hospital as we wait for the arrival of our second daughter!

Shouldn't be very long now ...

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

still not here

but hopefully coming very soon. Her first bag is packed and ready, and so is Mama's. We're just waiting on her to decide she's ready. Can't wait to meet her.

Monday, July 5, 2010

due, very, very, very soon

She's coming soon. So hopes Mama, Big Sis, and especially Daddy who is weary of Mama's requests for backrubs, ice cream and sleep.

Stay tuned for the series, coming summer 2010.