First Christmas!

Our daughter's first Christmas was quite eventful. Although she will not remember her first Christmas we have pictures of her throughout the day for her when she gets older.

I was unfortunately at work the morning of her first Christmas, but joined the family after I got out of work later that afternoon.

My wife was with our daughter all day and they went to three different houses to celebrate. Having to tug around the heavy car seat was not my wife's favorite thing to do this day. She often complains about it being too heavy and tends to just let me carry it when we are together lol (she gives me that look of: "I hope you don't expect me to carry that!").

Their day started at my wife's brother's house, dropping off gifts to his two kids and visiting with him, her niece and nephew and sister-in-law. The next house was my aunt and uncle's house for a Christmas brunch. They enjoyed the company of family and was even surprised with gifts, I was even given a gift. Our daughter took cat naps through out their time there, she could not sleep for long periods of time because she wanted to know everything that was going on. When I finally got off work my wife came and picked me up and we went back to my aunt and uncle's to continue spending the day with them. We (umm mainly ME) helped them clean up after everyone left and watched some TV.

Our daughter was so fascinated with the Christmas tree there, she could not take her eyes off of the tree, at times she would try and reach to grab it.

I'm sorry to say we did not have a tree up this year...I know, I know, I know, we should've had a tree, taken pics and all that. We figured we would be spending Christmas at other's homes who would have a tree, so why put one up? Plus she wouldn't remember it anyway...Mainly my wife and I worked so much this month that getting a tree kind of slipped our minds (I know! bad right?! Next year there will be a tree!).

Our next and final stop was at my mother's house. Everyone exchanged gifts and our daughter got some really cute outfits! She saw many of her cousins, aunts, uncle's and grandma. By the time we finally got home around 9:00 pm she was beat and ready to go to bed, but not before opening the gifts my wife had saved for her to open when all three of us were together.

Now as a baby they have no clue as to how to open up any gifts. At this stage in her life everything ends up in her mouth, and the wrapping paper was one of them. My wife ripped a little of the wrapping of the gifts off for her and tried having her grabbing it and just pulling some off, but NOPE, that was not happening. Our little momma had other plans...to eat the wrapping lol. She hit the boxes a few times, then leaned forward and started gumming the wrapping on the boxes...so cute! lol. After doing this we figured it was probably a good idea to NOT have her open any gifts lol. It was cutest thing ever and luckily our cameras were clicking!

Hope everyone else had a wonderful Christmas as well!! 

Sleepness Nights...No more!

So our daughter has done something soooo wonderful, something soooo amazing. When we tell people the first things out of their mouths are: "you're so blessed" or "that is really great!".

Our daughter has learned to sleep through the night since she was about 2-3 months. My wife had to return to work 8 weeks after our daughter was born and she had that looming feeling that all mothers have: "What am I going to do?! If she doesn't sleep through the night I'm going to go to work soooooo tiiireeeddd!!!!"

Well she recieved some good advice from her sister and sister-in-law: "Start her early on a sleep routine, the earlier the better." My wife thought that was a great idea, BUT with our daughter being so young she would of course wake up in the middle of the night to eat, be changed, etc. She had a daunting feeling, but thought, ok, I'll try this out. She set a time for 7pm, this is the time we start getting her ready for bed; she gets her nightly bath, gets changed, fed and held and sometimes sung and read a story, until she falls asleep.

Now in the beginning it was easy getting her TO sleep, but KEEPING her asleep...that was another story. She would wake up every two hours for her feedings as normal. But the miraculous thing: as my wife kept up with routine our daughter got used to it. At 7pm, she would get her nightly bath, change of diaper and clothing into her night onsie, her bottle, and either held or placed on the bed on her side to fall asleep. Many times it took her a loooonnnggg while to fall asleep; sometimes 9, 10 or even 11pm, but when she did she would be out like a light!

Starting her on this routine worked out well, because when my wife finally returned to work, she didn't have the exhaustion as most mothers feel when their baby's wake up on the hour.

Although our daughter does not get up every hour she does wake up in the middle of the night, at least once during the night, to eat and be changed. But once she gets that bottle, and a diaper change, she goes right on back to bed.

We are truly blessed to have received that piece of advice from her siblings, because starting a sleep routine with her early on was AWESOME, a blessing. We still, from time to time, get sleepy during the day, because on some occassions she wakes up to eat, and be changed, and she'll stay up for a half hour or so before she goes back to sleep. My wife lays her in between us, sing her a few songs, rub her tummy until she falls asleep. Once she does, she gets placed right back into her own bed.

This may not work for every parent but it has worked for us. For some parents it may take your babies a bit more than 2-3 months to get used to a routine. We started her at one month and has not deviated from that routine since.

Bath Time!

I have to give my wife credit, there are so many things that she does for our daughter that requires lots of time and bath time is one of them.

At bath time she has to remember what types of moisture wash to use, shampoo, make sure it's all no tears wash, use the right wash clothe for her face and body (because our daughter has sensitive skin), get out her towel, hair brush, diaper, clothes, lotion, hair oil, man 'oh man!

I always thought bath time was simple; wash her up with a damp cloth a few times, take her out, wipe her dry, and put some clothes on her and VIOLA you're done. But nope there is a process, a process that I found out about when my wife asked me to give our daughter a bath one day when she did not have enough time to do so herself. She showed me everything I had to do and use but I have to admit I kind of just did my own thing...lol. I did follow MOST of her instructions, but her bath time with mommy is bath time with mommy, and bath time with daddy is bath time with daddy. With all the items needed I thought: man, this is going to be long and just too much. Every time my wife asks me to give our daughter a bath in the past my answer has always been: "you go on ahead, you do it so well." And she does, I mean she has it down to a science. She and our daughter enjoy bath time, it's their bonding time, who am I to intrude? lol.

Yes, yes I know what some of you may be thinking: "um, you need to help with bath time too." And I do, AFTER her clothes are put on I usually feed her, or hold her while the wife gets ready...isn't that help enough? lol (just joking). No, but I do help, and when my wife asked me to give her a bath I have to admit I was a bit flustered because I had NO CLUE as to what to do. I got out her bath seat, her little pink bucket, and got her ready to take her bath. With my wife standing watch I was able to give our daughter a bath (my way) without breaking a sweat. It wasn't as bad as I thought and our daughter LOVES bath time, which made it even better.

SN: So on one occassion that my lovely wife was giving our daughter a bath she noticed that our daughter was making her poopy face. For all parents out there you know what the poopy face is: the face your baby makes right before they poop. Well my wife saw this face and thought: "hey, let me try and give her a bath real quick before she even poops." Well that was a TERRIBLE idea, and that's exactly what I told her. Well she tried as quickly as she could, but as all parents know when your child is ready to go, they are ready to go! Well our daughter kept making the face and just as I was about to get out: "just hold her up over the toilet" I heard my wife say "Oooh nooo!!" I rush back into the bathroom and could not stop laughing; our daughter had pooped in the tub. She was smiling and having a grand old time, while my wife held her up, mid air. I took our daughter, wiped her clean as my wife cleaned up the mess in the tub. The scene was so much like a movie, that I could not stop, I laughed so much that our daughter followed suite and laughed right along with her daddy.

Word to the wise: When you see your baby's poop face, you may want to prepare yourself! lol





 The BEST soap to get babies to sleep at night!

First Shots

The much feared first shots...something that every mother hates, and every baby never really remembers. Once the doctor informed my wife that our daughter was to be set up for an appointment for her shots, her anxiety began. She hated needles and I knew she would not do well in the doctors office when our daughter got her shots.

My wife ensured that the appointment coincided with my work schedule, because she did not want to go to the appointment alone (you would think she were getting the shots...smh...lol). She ensured to remind me every other day "remember we have the appointment in a month," "remember we have the appointment in a few weeks," "remember we have the appointment in a few days." She kept reminding me as if I would forget lol.

The day of the appointment my wife kept saying to our daughter "don't worry, it won't hurt," more to reassure herself than our daughter. At the appointment everything went well, until shot time arrived. My wife became nervous and scared, as if she were getting the shots. As the nurse put on her gloves and readied to give the much anticipated immunizations my wife had to take a breathe.

Our daughter was a bit tired and was dozing in and out of sleep. She was kind of awake when the nurse administered the first shot. There was a pause then a cry of "whaaaaaaaaa!" then the crying quieted down. The second and third shots yielded the same results; a short cry, then quiet after being given her bottle. My daughter took those shots like a pro, my wife on the other hand...not so much

My wife was more afraid and reactive to the shots than our daughter, at one point the nurse stopped, looked at her and asked if she needed a minute before continuing. My wife took a deep breathe, said no, and braced herself for our daughters next shot. When it was over my wife breathed a sigh of relief, although our daughter was quietly sleeping and had most likely forgotten about what just occurred. Although we had to make another appointment for her next set of shots, I think the next time around my wife will fair better. She won't be as scared and anxious, and will be more prepared.

After leaving the doctor's office we went straight to Rite Aide to purchase children's Tylenol...our saving grace. Children's Tylenol helped so much! After our daughter woke up she cried a little because her legs were sore, and she started to feel a little bit warm, we gave her the Children's Tylenol and it worked like a charm, it helped her sleep and worked to soothe the pain.

One form of advice: When your children get their shots have the children's Tylenol available...ASAP, it will be your saving grace through the pain.


We survived one set of immunizations, hopefully the next time around my wife will take a page out of our daughters book and be as brave...

Our NEW Lives

Our lives are no longer ours, it now belongs to that beautiful 12lb baby of ours. She is now our world.

I remember in the past we used to get up early Saturday mornings to catch the early showing of a moving at Tinsel Town for $5. But now-a-days...no more. Before we can even think about leaving the house to go see a movie we have to call around, find a sitter, make sure that person can watch her for the allotted time...then and only then can we go.

Gone are the days of getting up whenever we want, sleeping in, being lazy. Nope! We wake up when she wakes up, and can only sleep in while she takes her morning naps.

Gone are the days of just getting up and leaving the house to go to the store whenever we want. Nope! Now we have to get her ready; make sure she has weather appropriate clothes on, get her in her car seat, get her in the car...then finally head to where we need to go.

Gone are the days of just hanging out with friends whenever we want, leaving and coming when we want. Nope! Now we must ensure that where we go is either child appropriate, or able to find someone that can watch our baby in order for us to go out.

Gone are the days of purchasing what we want; clothes, shoes, junk. Nope! Now our lives are diapers , wipes, formula (enfamil to be exact), watching disney junior (Mickey Mouse Clubhouse is her favorite) , buying baby clothes...basically all things baby lol.

Although our lives are no longer ours I must say we would not have it any other way. We have just learned to do things differently. These days we spend more time with friends who have kids, or take our daughter on some outings or spend more time at home. We now watch more movies online, on netflix, blockbuster, or on demand. We have just learned to change things around.

I have to say although things are different for us, we love every moment of our new lives. Watching her grow up has been awesome, we would not have our lives any other way.

Amazement...

I know everyone feels this way but: We have the BEST daughter in the world! (lol).

She's just amazing, granted it hasn't all been roses and smiley faces, but honestly my daughter makes everything worth it.

At about 4 weeks she taught herself to turn over (we have video proof lol), at about 3 months she let the old "dada" slip out (although many people have been saying we may have heard wrong, but NOPE, she said it!). And now at 5 months she has gotten into the stage of discovering her hands and has almost discovered her feet.

Her hands are the most amazing things to her, many times she stares at them, not realizing she can very well open and close them. Once she gets tired of staring at them she puts them in her mouth and starts gnawing at her hands (as all babies do lol). She forgets these were the very same things that brought her such amazement not but a minute before. She has almost discovered her feet, when she sees them she's always so amazed, but then has not figured out how to grab on to her feet just yet.

She has gotten to the stage of smiling, laughing and recognizing her parents. It is amazing because when she see's my wife or I, her eyes and whole face lights up, each and every time, as if seeing us for the first time (kinda makes me feel special, like a rock star).

She has the cutest little dimples that makes a guys heart melt (yup she gets those from her daddy lol). She has yet to master recognizing her name, but we're getting there, soon enough she will, because again, she is amazing :-)

Ok, Ok, Ok, enough about my amazing daughter and back to our chronicle lol...