Category Archives: dear coraline

March 22, 2011 · 10:01 PM

Dear Coraline: Month 6

Dear Coraline,

As of 1AM this morning, you turned six months old. I can’t believe you’re already half a year old (and yes, I’m already thinking about your first birthday party). You weigh about 16 pounds and fit well in clothes sized six months, although there are some three month outfits you can still wear. You’re also now in size 3 diapers (as of day 170), which look a bit big on you but fit well, which is what matters.

You now sleep through the night pretty much every night — and for that your poppa and I thank you — sleeping anywhere from 8 1/2 to 11 hours straight depending on how your day went and how tired you are. Your bedtime averages right around 8 o’clock, but some nights you’ll go to bed as early as 7:30 or as late as 9. You primarily sleep on your stomach and still enjoy sucking on your thumb when drowsy. And you always flash us the most awesome smile first thing in the morning — you’re such a happy morning baby that if you didn’t look just like your poppa and have my eyes, we wouldn’t believe you were ours. (Mommy and Poppa don’t do mornings.) You’re happy every morning, even when you have a bad night, like night 156 when we suspect you had teething pain.

And, yes, I’m still counting by the day. On day 154, you laughed spontaneously for the first time. What made you laugh? Our dog Caleb walking toward you. You held out your arms for him and he walked right into them. That’s another thing — you’re already an animal lover. You giggle and smile at all our cats and dogs and enjoy petting them all, but Caleb seems to be your favorite. Maybe because he not only loves being petted by you but because he smiles back at you, too. (You’re even good at scratching his funny spot that makes his hind leg kick.) He also loves to kiss you, especially on the face. You don’t mind it, but your poppa and I do.

You now definitely seem to have favorite toys. At the top of that short list is your pink glow seahorse, which lives in your crib. You love it so much you even figured out how to press its belly to make the music play (night 158); you now turn it on whenever you need comforting and love to sleep snuggled up against it. You’re also now excited when you see your bottle — you know it’s time to eat and eagerly reach out to grab it. On night 163, while your poppa was giving you your bedtime bottle, you reached out and held it on your own. He was so proud of you and couldn’t wait to tell me what you’d done.

This has turned out to be your worst month health-wise since you were less than a month old. On day 161, you were sniffly and fussy; that’s the first time I remember you truly reaching out for me to pick you up from your exersaucer. You got over that little cold in about a day. On a recent Saturday, you developed the sniffles again. By the next day (day 171), you were full-on miserable, coughing so much you threw up a whole bottle’s worth on me. That was also the day your poppa assembled the high chair we bought you, which you enjoyed sitting in despite feeling so awful. We monitored your symptoms closely until that Wednesday morning (day 174) when you woke up with a noticeable rasp and wheezing. We whisked you to the doctor, where you were diagnosed with RSV and croup and prescribed a nebulizer for breathing treatments. Proving once again that you have a very sweet personality, the doctors called you a “happy wheezer” at your recheck that Friday since you were all smiles for the whole staff. You’re finally feeling better and yesterday (day 180) at your recheck the doctor said your lungs were clear as a bell and that we could stop with the nebulizer treatments.

First St. Patrick’s Day (day 175)

You’re so close to sitting up by yourself. You do really well with a bit of support from me or your poppa. During a bath (day 177), you managed to hold on to the sides of your tub and sit up on your own for the first time, which was awesome to see. You are also close to crawling. You do what we call “inchworming,” where you’ll basically shimmy on your tummy until you get to where you want to be. Between you rolling over and inchworming, you can move very quickly in the blink of an eye. As of yesterday you developed a fondness for gravitating to my work laptop, which you like to smack on the keyboard, proving you are indeed your father’s daughter.

I absolutely love how happy you are all the time (even when sick), how quick you are to smile, and the sweet way you’ve started cupping my cheek with your little hands when I’m feeding you or holding you close. Sometimes you even reach out to grab my nose while you’re eating. You also now stroke and pull on your poppa’s beard, which he loves. It’s the little things like that that make my love for you grow stronger every day — the increasing ways in which you interact with and respond to us. Soon you’ll be hugging us back, something I can’t wait to experience. Not that I’m in a rush for you to grow up. You’re still my sweet little baby and I intend to cherish every little moment with you that I can, and I am so proud to be your mommy. Here’s to a fun month seven.

love,

Mommy

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February 23, 2011 · 6:00 PM

Dear Coraline: Month 5

Dear Coraline,

As of 1AM this morning, you turned five months old. You continue to gain weight (approximately 16 1/2 lbs. as of today) and grow bigger by the day, coming very close to filling out clothes sized six months. This past month has been really great in that your personality is starting to shine through. You smile readily whenever you see any of your family, particularly when your cousins perform like circus monkeys for your entertainment. And you are such a happy baby. Everyone comments on that (and your luxurious mane of fine baby hair) — how you have such a sweet, wonderful personality already.

You’ve slept through the night four times this month (nights 137 and 142), including two nights in a row as of last night (nights 151-152). And, yes, Mommy is still counting your age by the day (your first Valentine’s Day was day 144). You’re quite the stomach sleeper, often rolling over from your back before we’ve even finished turning off your light. Your big discovery this month: your thumb. You don’t suck your thumb for very long when you do, but as soon as it makes its way to your mouth we know you’re getting sleepy. You also do it sometimes when you’re getting hungry, but you usually indulge when you’re getting drowsy, your right hand making its way to your mouth, index finger pointing straight up along your nose.

We bought you an exersaucer for our house after seeing you just about projectile launch yourself out of the one at your abuelo and abuela’s house. You LOVE bouncing around in it like a little nut. You still really enjoy your gym, particularly all the loose toys and rattles we put out for you to play with. Basically, they all end up in your mouth. Your silver Nambe rattle and Henrietta the Hippo rattle seem to be favorites, as well as your star teething ring.

By far my favorite development this month has been your giggle. You first giggled on day 132, after I’d tickled your belly for a bit. Your giggle is quite possibly the most magical sound I’ve ever heard and it never fails to make me happy. We still have to work a bit to get you to giggle; you don’t just spontaneously laugh at anything, but it’s worth the effort we put in to hear you giggle and see you smile. As of right now, you respond the most to zerberts on your belly and me pretending to eat your cheeks while saying “nom nom nom nom” in an exaggerated manner (like there’s any other way to do it). You also giggle when we tickle your sides and say “coochie coochie coo.” It’s awesome.

The biggest development this month? One we didn’t expect this early: your first tooth. And then your second tooth. I first noticed your bottom left incisor last Tuesday, day 145. I noticed a flash of white along your bottom gum, called your poppa to come see, and sure enough, we felt the razor-like edge of your first tooth. Which we realized probably explained your Sunday night meltdown (night 143) — you were probably experiencing severe teething pains. You almost never cry for no reason, like you seemingly did that night, so for that we apologize and now have Baby Orajel on hand to soothe you when you do. You can imagine our surprise when we noticed you had a second tooth coming in just days after your first one (day 148), your lower right incisor. You’re quite the little overachiever, teething on the early end of the scale.

You’re also thisclose to sitting up. Which is but one of the countless reasons I can’t wait to see what month six brings.

love,

Mommy

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January 23, 2011 · 8:15 PM

Dear Coraline: Month 4

Dear Coraline,

As of 1AM this morning, you turned four months old. You’ve grown leaps and bounds this month, weighing in at just over 14 pounds and fitting into clothes sized three to six months (closer to the three still) and size 2 diapers (albeit closed very tightly). Your poppa and I think you’re more interactive than ever. You smile very easily and have a quasi-giggle when something amuses (or tickles) you; a real giggle is just around the corner, I’m sure. You seem to know who family is, smiling readily whenever you see your grandparents, aunts, uncle, and your cousins. You love to observe everything happening around you, from the cats walking by to the dogs wrestling to us cooking in the kitchen.

You celebrated your first Christmas when you were 93 days old. Of course, being as little as you are, you didn’t really notice much except the Christmas tree lights and star. Oh, how you loved the star on top of the tree. Your poppa and I (along with the rest of your family) really enjoyed shopping for Christmas gifts for you, even though you didn’t really notice what you got. Still, just having you around this year made it our best Christmas ever (having the first white Christmas in recent memory only added to how special the day was). Just think how much more fun this year’s Christmas will be, though, since you’ll be able to help unwrap your presents.

For some reason, I find myself keeping track of how old you are not by weeks but by days. Although at the rate you’re changing and discovering new things, it’s getting harder to keep track of the days. Still, on day 99 you celebrated your first New Year’s Eve with us and a handful of friends, all of whom enjoyed meeting you for the first time. The first day of the new year, day 100, you napped in your crib for the first time ever. You took to it like a fish takes to water, probably because you’d outgrown your bassinet and a real mattress made a big difference in the quality of your sleep. On day 108, you spent your first full night in your very own room, a milestone that was bittersweet for me. I was happy to see you take to your crib and your room, but I missed (and still miss) having you only a few feet away from me in our bedroom. Lucky me, our walls are thin enough that we can hear whenever you need us even without the baby monitor.

You enjoy being read to these days. This month we’ve read through all your board books as well as some classics, like Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who and The Cat in the Hat (you much preferred the latter). You’ve started rubbing your eyes when you get sleepy. You reach out to touch my and your poppa’s faces when we hold you or feed you. You grasp one of our fingers and move it up and down while you eat. You love eating rice cereal in your milk even though you slap the spoon away when we try to give it to you out of a bowl (you first tried it on day 104). You love sitting on your poppa’s or my lap when we’re on our computers (although we try not to do that too often). You love kicking around on your little gym and grabbing at the toys hanging from it, especially the panda and the blue igloo teething ring.

You even hit a couple of major milestones this week. This past Tuesday night (day 117-118) marked the first time you slept through the whole night. That Wednesday afternoon, you rolled over from your back onto your stomach during an afternoon nap. I went in to calm you down when you started hollering; I think you startled yourself that first time and didn’t quite know what to do once you were on your tummy. Now, just a few days later, you roll over in the blink of an eye and have turned into quite the stomach sleeper. This afternoon your poppa and I got a huge kick out of watching you roll onto your tummy then back onto your back within a matter of minutes. It’s the little moments like that, with all of us hanging out on our bed, that make everything we do for you worthwhile. That, and your million-dollar smile. I can’t wait to see what month five brings.

love,

Mommy

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September 30, 2010 · 7:00 PM

Dear Coraline

Dear Coraline,

As of one o’clock this morning, you are now officially a week old. And even though you’re only a week old, your dad and I feel like we’ve already known you for a lifetime — like we’ve known you forever (as opposed to your dad saying he and I have been together forever). Since your arrival last Thursday, we’ve marveled over even the slightest thing you’ve done. Your little blinks, sighs, coos, smiles, and smirks melt our hearts every single time. We’ve officially turned into those people who say how becoming a parent changes everything in your life for the better, because, well, for us it definitely has. Being more tired than we’re used to as we all adjust to a new schedule has been totally worthwhile. Sure, we no longer know what day it is unless we consult our DVR, but we couldn’t be happier that we’re able to spend this time at home getting to know you. The three of us holed up in our house, spending that time together, have been some of the happiest days your dad and I have ever known.

We waited years for you to come along — you are, after all, our 10th Anniversary Commemorative Baby© — and you were definitely worth the wait (even if you didn’t like the day we picked for you to be born on, leading to you being born a day later than planned). Then again, your dad and I noticed throughout our entire pregnancy how headstrong you are. I’m surprised the doctor didn’t find a little periscope in there with you because you always knew whenever anyone besides me was trying to feel you kick and move; you’d immediately stop whatever you were doing as soon as anyone else placed their hand on my belly. At least you’d occasionally validate your dad’s efforts with a kick or two.

You’ve adapted remarkably well to your new environment, and are an impressively mellow baby. You really only cry when you need to be changed or when you’d rather stay asleep on either me or your dad instead of being placed back in your bassinet. You don’t even flinch whenever our dogs bark, which is still more often than we’d like. Of course, the dogs have essentially become your dogs as they officially took on guardianship duties. Caleb and Troubadour constantly mother-hen you, with Caleb’s metamorphosis into Nana from Peter Pan almost complete (he can’t stand not checking on you at least a hundred times a day). As for the cats, well, they’re adapting, too. Belle seems fondest of you, probably because she knows you have round-the-clock access to dairy. At least you’ve got one big, very concerned dog watching out for you, right?

As I’m writing this your dad and I are in the living room, where we can see you sleeping peacefully in your bassinet via the video monitor your great-aunt Bea got you. I know you’ll wake up in about an hour to be fed and changed and cuddled. You’re a world-class snuggler, and I cherish every second of those snuggles when you’ve just eaten and you coo as you fall asleep on my chest. You also enjoy those same snuggles with your dad after he’s fed you or just when you need to be soothed; you really love his voice and how safe he makes you feel. He calmed you down within seconds after your birth when I could only listen to what was going on from behind the blue surgical curtain. It really is all the little things that add up — how you feel comforted by and safe with us, how you knew from the moment you were born exactly who we were, and how your now-hazel eyes have been taking everything in since day one.

I know I also speak for your dad when I say how I can’t wait to see the little girl you’ll become someday — who you’ll look like, what your voice will sound like, what your interests will be. Because we’re already so in love with the amazing, one-week-old baby you are and look forward to embarking on the journey we’ll be taking as a family.

love,

Mommy