the neuenschwander family: April 2008

4.29.2008

standing is the new sitting

This weekend while Mimi was visiting we left Finley to play in her crib for a couple minutes. All the sudden we heard Mimi screaming from Finley's room, "Come quick, she's standing!" Sure enough, there she was, peaking over the rail with a proud grin. I'm a little miffed that I wasn't there to see her first time, but she's given me plenty of opportunity to see her new trick. Now every time we try to sit her down on her bottom she goes stiff as a board and wont bend to sit. She wants to stand all the time. Needless to say, we immediately lowered the crib.

4.26.2008

gene coulon park

Today we had to cancel Finley's portraits due to a nasty runny nose. Instead we went and scoped out a new park with Mimi. More pics are in the album. Finley loved people watching and checking out all the beautiful scenery. Well, it was beautiful until we stumbled upon this...

As she sat there rubbing her 8 month belly and blowing smoke in the faces of her other children I had to bite my tongue. If you want to smoke, that is your choice, but DON'T do it while you are pregnant! ARGH!

4.25.2008

first taste of chocolate

She is so happy to taste a new food.

Fast forward 5 years when she gets into mama's lipstick (not that I own any).

Apparently self feeding builds confidence. Mostly it makes a mess, but its fun to watch her determination.

Before the Grandmas call the Nutrition Police, no-it's not really chocolate. It's actually her first taste of prunes. Which are almost as delicious as chocolate, right? Well, she sure thought so (and my grandpa probably agrees)!

4.24.2008

guess who finally made an appearance...

...MR. TOP TOOTH! She's such a big girl.

And perhaps even more exciting. Finley went to bed at 8:00 last night and we didn't hear a peep out of her until 7:10. No, no, that's not a typo. I woke up at 4:00 am and freaked out when I realized I'd been asleep for a solid 6 hours. I ran into her room and made sure she was breathing. Then I spent the next hour laying in bed awake thinking about how excited I was that she was sleeping so well. Go figure. Once the shock wore off I enjoyed a few more hours of sleep and woke up feeling like a new woman.

4.23.2008

finleys first six months

4.22.2008

sleep update

We are now onto night 5 of our sleep training with Finley. Things definitely got worse before they got better. The first few nights each time she woke up Brian spent 45 minutes trying to soothe her without feeding her. The three of us were quite tired and I was really emotional. We seemed to question our strategy with every sob and tear. And then we saw the light in the darkness. We noticed that once in a while she would calm herself down and fall back asleep without needing to eat. Last night we didn't have to pick her up at all! She sort of whined a couple times and soothed herself back to sleep! Without a doubt, this has been the hardest thing we've had to do as parents so far, but we're already seeing positive results. I just keep reminding myself that this is the first of many times in parenthood where I will have to put aside my own feelings and do what is best for her. And also that its okay to think about our sleep needs too.

On a lighter note...
Brian and I were laying in bed this morning when I heard a strange noise. I listened for a minute, wondering what on earth it was. We don't have any pets and I know Finley is swaddled like Houdini in her crib. Finally I got out of bed and followed the noise. It turns out that Finley had wriggled out of her swaddle and was batting at her rain forest player trying to turn it on. She gave me a huge smile, and looked at me like "why isn't this thing playing?"

4.18.2008

photo shoot

Finley is getting her pictures taken next weekend so we had a little photo shoot to see which outfits looked good. Check out more pics in the album...

My favorite-

photo shoot

Finley is getting her pictures taken next weekend so we had a little photo shoot to see which outfits looked good. Check out the 6 month album for more pictures.

The sleep saga

Well, Finley's sleep issue has not resolved itself so we have decided to be proactive about it. I spent all day yesterday reading up on various sleep training approaches. Basically there is the CIO (cry it out) method and the AP (attachment parenting method-always respond to babies cries). Brian and I sat down last evening as if we were at a business meeting and went over all the current sleep research. We decided to take a middle of the road approach. Because we know how things can change during sleep deprivation we outlined our strategy in specific detail.

1) I am not allowed to be present-she can't hear me, smell me, or see me (yay for me, bad news for brian)

2) Brian will let her cry for 5 minutes before responding to her

3) He will give her the binki and blanket to soothe her

4) He will pat her bum

5) He will pick her up and bounce/sway her

6) When crying has totaled 30 minutes he will give her a bottle and try again at the next wakening

Everything went according to plan the first time she woke up. She cried. I covered my ears with two pillows and the comforter. I cried. He ended up having to feed her. No big deal. We knew this was going to take time. When she woke up the second time, the plan went out the window. I heard her cry and then I heard Brian feeding her. What happened to steps 1-5? All the sudden he began quoting AP research! Was he looking for the easy way out or did her crying really get to him? Maybe both, but I don't think he's a tough as he thinks he is!

4.17.2008

avocado everywhere

http://www.youtube.com/get_player

#1-excuse my baby voice

#2-check out the mysterious laceration near her eye

avocado everywhere

http://www.youtube.com/get_player

avocado everywhere

#1-Excuse my "baby" voice

#2-Check out the mysterious laceration next to her eye

http://www.youtube.com/get_player

4.16.2008

half a year already..sniff sniff

Every now and then I look back through the photos from Finley's birth. I tear up every time because a) I can't believe how much I love her, and b) it seems like time is going SOOO fast. Yesterday Finley turned 6 months old!!! She got another round of shots and did great with them-cried for a few seconds and then smiled at the nurses. It turns out that the "diet" she went on last week resulted in her losing a little weight, but the doctor wasn't worried because she is eating more and having wet diapers again! So here's her stats:

Height: 27.5 inches-97th %
Weight: 16.9 lbs-64th %
Head: I forget, but its the 75th %

The crinkly paper entertained her during the wait.

She's had enough kisses from mama.

Six month olds don't lay down for checkups anymore!

4.13.2008

spring is here!

Napping in the sunshine with Mimi.

I love her little sun outfit!

Ruffles on the bum make any outfit cute!

First flowers to bloom this year.

4.09.2008

the ballet

This weekend my father-in-law took all the girls to see A Midsummer Night's Dream at the PNB. A family friend dances for the company (as a fairy) so we got a behind the scenes peak at what it's like to be in the ballet. We were all in awe as we stood up on stage and checked out all the ornate costumes. The set, the costumes, the dancing...it was all so whimsical. My niece had on her special dress with her fairy wings and she stood in the aisle doing twirls-She stole the show during intermission. I left there feeling child-like...and also very inflexible.

Also, there is a wall backstage that all of the performers sign. It has all types of celebrity signatures on it. I touched the wall where John Mayer signed his name-how exciting. And I laughed when I saw this:

Dan Rather

(reporter)

me, jessika (the fairy), ally, and sandra

mom, jessika, larry, and maya

sisters in matching coats-how embarrassing

the fam

4.05.2008

i made my mark

Everyone always says that Finley looks like Brian. That's a great thing. Obviously, I think Brian is an attractive person and I'm thankful Finley is growing up with his genes. But, I mean..I carried her around for 10 months. I'd like at least a little credit every now and then. I had my moment of glory this weekend as we looked through my old baby pictures. Recognize those eyes with the bags underneath?? I do! I made my mark!! Sadly, all Brian's baby pictures were destroyed. But he doesn't need anymore affirmation anyways.