Wouldja look at that face?

It’s so much fun now that Nora is interacting more with me and the world. We went for a walk yesterday with Nora in the Baby Bjorn. She slept most of the way, but when she woke up she looked up at me like this. Gosh, she just makes me smile.

Ooooh stretch

Even if she’s only been asleep for three minutes, Nora sure enjoys the luxurious process of waking up. A yawn, reach the arms overhead and streeeetch. And repeat. Just watching her makes me want to crawl in bed, fall asleep, and then wake up rested — like I’ve slept for ten hours on a fluffy pillow rested — vacation rested. I’d stretch like that if I knew there was a cappuccino, some OJ, french toast and bacon waiting for me downstairs. I’d stretch like that if I knew the only things on my agenda for the day were to sit on a beach with a good book and take a dip in the ocean. Maybe put a margarita in my hand too.

I love that Nora seems to enjoy waking up so much to whatever the day has in store for her. It might be my sleep deprivation talking here, but doesn’t this look delicious?

Fake out! = tired mommy and daddy

When we first brought Nora home from the hospital, she would only sleep if we held her all night long. We borrowed a bassinet from my sister and were lucky enough to have received a Pack ‘N Play and crib as gifts. We were totally prepared. But Nora would not sleep in any of them. She’d fall sound asleep in our arms, but as soon as we put her down on her back, she’d start wailing.

At first, I didn’t mind holding her all night. I was basking in the glory of new mommyhood. In the middle of the night, I’d gaze down at her perfect little nose, her adorable little pout, and I’d just think about what a miracle she was. But after about four nights of sleeplessness, I started to go a little berserk. There were a few nights where she and I would be sobbing in sync at 4am, she, rightly so, because she is a baby and me, because I was freaking sleep deprived and hormonal.

Then along came the Nap Nanny. My friend Jenny recommended I give it a try.

When I first saw this small piece of foam furniture that looks somewhat like a doggy bed for babies, I scoffed.  $125 for a piece of foam! Phooey! But after a few nights of mother/daughter sobbing sessions, I found myself in Babies R’ Us, my hair disheveled, dark circles under my eyes, my hands in the air, pleading to the saleswoman, “Nap Nanny?! Where?”

The saleswoman looked like she was about to hug me. “Good luck,” she said after carrying it to the register for me. “Come back and tell me how it worked.”

It worked! Nora slept for about five hours in row that night and continued to sleep in long stretches for nights to come.

After two months of this, Kevin and I knew we needed to give flat furniture another try. She would outgrow the Nap Nanny soon and we’d be lost. We kept putting it off and putting it off until finally, we tried the Pack ‘N Play again. To our surprise, she slept through the night. We were procrastinating for no reason. Babies grow so fast and what might not have worked last week might work this week and vice versa. You can never get too comfortable in a routine.

So, hurrah, she now sleeps in the Pack ‘N Play! But we’re facing a new challenge which I call the fake out.  I nurse her and she falls into a deep sleep in bed. I slide one hand under her head and one under her butt and carry her to her bed. I lower her very gently, first her feet, then her butt and then her head. I try to remove my hand from underneath her as unobtrusively as possible. I ever so quietly tiptoe back to bed and try to lie down without the bed creaking. I wait a moment, two moments, three. Whew. I sigh, kiss Kevin goodnight and close my eyes. Of course, you know what’s coming. It starts with a rustling and then a few Jurassic Park-like groans. Kevin and I look at each other in the dark. She starts wailing. “I don’t think it worked,” I say.

Now, this isn’t every night. Sometimes she goes right to sleep when we put her down, and sometimes she wakes up as soon as her bum hits the mattress pad and it takes us a good thirty to forty minutes to bounce her back to sleep (on the exercise ball.) We never know what we’re in for!

Advice on this would be much appreciated! How do you transfer the baby from your arms to the crib without waking her up?

Early springtime in Nyack

Kevin, Nora and I went out for a stroll on a beautiful Sunday morning. It was not your typical March weather. The daffodils were in bloom and pretty pink blossoms popped up on trees.

Nora wore her monkey ballerina fleece and slept most of the walk.

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We stopped for a bagel at The Runcible Spoon and sat outside.

This is a pit stop for all of the bikers passing through.

Kevin and I noticed an ad for an estate sale down the road so we walked there to check it out.

And we ended up buying this farmhouse table and red windsor chairs which is exactly what I had in mind for our dining room.

It was a perfect Sunday hanging out with my favorite people in the world!

Cute shoes

So she can’t walk yet. Everyone is entitled to a pair of penguin flats.

Baby talk

A wee 9 week Nora would pump her arms and legs and look at us with bright eyes. She’d sometimes open her mouth but no sound would come out.  Eventually, she’d come out with a “glllgg” or an adorable high pitched sigh.

At ten weeks, Nora has found her voice. She has started opening her mouth wide and letting out a mighty squeal or exclaiming, “Ahhhh! Ahhhh!” Her cries have become much squeakier lately, which seems to me to be a complaint rather than a full on cry. “Olga!” Nora says to which we reply, “You keep asking for her, but we’ve told you we can’t afford a maid.”  When she’s upset, she cries out “Abu!” which we assume is in reference to the sassy but kindhearted monkey from Aladdin. “Hooah!” she says sometimes, to quote one of her favorite actors, sir Al Pacino. And she’s so close to laughing — can’t wait for that one!

Tummy time

That Daddy is pretty funny

Nora and her friend Vivien go for a stroll

Nora gets her 2 month vaccines

This was a tough visit for Momma Sara. Yeah, I totally lost my cool.

Nora was in a good mood, very smiley and chatty on the exam table before the nurse came in. When we first brought her home from the hospital, she cried every time we changed her diaper, but she has come to be quite impartial to some QT time on a table. You’re naked, you’re face to face with Mommy and Daddy – what could be better? So, in the doctor’s office, she lay there in just a diaper, cooing and gurgling and pumping her arms and legs. Poor little Shmooples didn’t know what she was in for.  I tried to keep her calm and happy by rubbing her head and tickling her under her chin (an oldie but goodie).

I was doing okay hear babies screaming and crying in other rooms down the hall. What were they doing to those poor babies??? We could escape now. There was still time.

The nurse came in. It was our turn. I tried to hold it together. They gave her the first vaccine orally, and she was having none of it. She spit some of it back out and started crying. Then they put a needle in her right leg. She started to scream and her face turned bright red, like “Whoa, whoa, whoa. I didn’t like that at all!”

“Can I nurse her in here when this is done?” I asked.

“Sure you can,” the nurse said. She looked at my face. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” I said. I guess I was tearing up. Just a little embarrassing.

“It’s okay,” she said. “I get it.”

They put the needle in the other leg and Nora screamed again, like, “What the hell? What is the matter with you people? I told you I didn’t like it!”

Whew. It was over. I held Nora, nursed her and she fell asleep in the car on the way home.  Later, on the changing table, she was back to cooing and gurgling. All was forgotten. I, however, was just a tiny bit traumatized. I hope I can get it together by the time Nora is old enough to know what’s going on. I don’t think it’s ideal to be in tears when I’m telling her “everything will be okay “and “it won’t hurt a bit.” Anyway, we got through round one.