Governor's Island 2013

A few weekends ago, we went out to Governor's Island. Which is my favorite summertime activity in NYC. It's a little island shaped like an ice cream cone at the bottom of Manhattan. You take a little ferry over and it is awesome. First you have to trek from our place at the top of Manhattan all the way to the bottom... This little girl was a bit grumpy until we finally put her seat upright for the first time. She's so big!!!

 

Then we got some delicious BBQ from a food truck followed by Mr. Softee ice cream. 

 

We wandered around for a while looking at the old buildings and such and then relaxed for a bit after Marjorie ate. There's a big grass area with some play ground equipment and large art installations in the middle. It's nice a calm on the edges in the shade. 

 

Showcasing her baby blues (still hoping they stick around!) 

 

Then we went to the Fete Paradiso. A vintage french carnival that was at Governor's Island this summer. It was so awesome!

 

 

You could get food and then there was a french jazz band playing. It was magical. 

 

The whole family

 

and a little video of the carnival 

Marjorie at 5 Months

It's getting better and better. Newborns are all sweet and tender, but are mostly blobs that cry a lot and I think I prefer some positive reinforcement in the form of gummy smiles and gasping baby laughs. Although I would prefer for Marjorie return to her nighttime sleep schedule when she was a newborn as opposed to the nasty business she's torturing us with presently.

Marjorie:
-finally rolled over! She can roll from her back to her tummy on her right side. The problem now is that she still dislikes tummy time (not as badly as before) and thus once she ends up on her tummy, she's happy for a few minutes and then begins screaming. I've heard this is the motivation some babies need to be able to kick around and roll themselves back, but not Marjorie. No, this girl, she is a little Eeyore like her mommy and g-daddy. She cries in anguish to herself while trying to suck her thumb for comfort and refusing to let her head touch the ground for a little rest.
-as noted above, she tolerates tummy time much better now. She's been known to last even 10 minutes! She most enjoys it when she's propped up on the boppy on the bed while I do my make up and sing to her.
-looooves singing. If she is screaming bloody murder, singing will almost always get her to calm down. Or if she's starting to get that gleam of "I'm gonna get real annoyed soon" in her eye, if I start singing, I can usually prevent the meltdown. I need to buff up on more songs. Current favorites are "Do-Re-Mi," "Row Your Boat," "Moses Supposes," and "Patty Cake."
-grabs her toes frequently. She will chew those suckers as long as they are not covered by a sock. She did this before rolling over. It has made diaper changes more convenient in some ways and more difficult in others.
-has decided that sleeping is for the birds. She was such a good night sleeper (never a good napper really). I would get at least one 5-8 hour chunk and then a 3 hour chunk. It was good. Now sometimes she's up every 2 hours and usually every 3 hours. Lately she's been doing a little better. Sleeping until 3am for the first chunk but then up at 5 to eat and then up at 6 for the day. Dan's been taking her out front at 6 and letting her hang out in the front room while he gets ready so I can get a little more sleep. Then he brings her back to me when he leaves at around 7. It's been okay.
-naps are definitely easier to get her to take, but she doens't stay down long. On average her naps last 30-45 minutes and every once in a while 1-1.5 hrs. Those are really nice.
-starting to work on consonant sounds. Dadadadadada and mamamamamama and babababababa are all favorites. Sometimes practicing those sounds makes taking naps a little difficult.

Mommy:
-wishes she could get a little more sleep. There are a lot of naps during Marjorie's first nap.
-enjoying being home with Marjorie and enjoying going back to LDS Family Services. I've only gone twice but it's been nice to get out alone and to use my grown up brain.
-has learned how important it is for both mommy and baby to get out every day. Everyone is happier after we've gone on our first walk.

These were taken a few days after she turned 5 months (we were apple picking and getting photos taken on the actual day) and she was starting to get sick so lots of quiet faces.

               

 

The next three are Marjorie's three most frequent faces.

That's our girl!

Marjorie at 4 Months

Marjorie at 4 Months:
- at her 4 month appointment she was 24.5 inches long (50%) and 12.3 oz. (10%) tall and skinny!
-just started giggling and it is awesome!
-rolls to her side and allllmost all the way onto her tummy, but still no dice
-absolutely hates tummy time, but performed well for the doctor. She pushed herself way up and hung out there on display for a good few minutes for the doctor, something she rarely does for me.
-getting better and better at grabbing things and pulling them to her mouth. Sometimes she gets fussy when she's playing in her play gym and I think it's because she can't get something into her mouth that she really wants to explore
-frequently grasps her hands together like a little choir girl
-great at nighttime sleeping and short of naps. She's better at going down for naps, but only stays down for 30-45 minutes regularly. Occasionally I'll get an hour and it's always a pleasant surprise!
-still wearing 0-3 month clothes, but occasionally I put her in a smallish 3-6 month outfit. All of her 3-6 month clothes are summery and I'm afraid she'll just start to fit them when it gets chilly out
-the doctor placed her on Zantac at her 4 month appointment. She's only been on it for 24 hours so I don't know if this will be the answer to her apparent pain after eating and general fussiness. I am very much hoping it will be
-just discovered how to blow raspberries and thoroughly enjoys doing that, especially at 5:30 in the morning

Mom at 4 Months:
-Thoroughly enjoyed being at home for 6 weeks and hanging in NC for 10 days with the Parrish Fam
-Super enjoyed always having someone around to help fetch things or hold a fussy baby. How am I going to survive on my own?!
-Nursing is going well mostly. It's been a while since her last freak out and refusal to eat. Again, really hoping that the Zantac will help!

 

 

Marjorie meets Marjorie

Today, Marjorie met Marjorie. Our M should have been fussy and grumpy as it was definitely nap time, but she was all smiles while meeting her namesake. I'm pretty sure they're kindred spirits, same names or no. I've never seen her so smiley and happy to meet someone new. 

 

Favorite picture ever!

I know Marjorie will treasure these pictures as she grows.

Marjorie at 3 months

Clearly, I am only using this blog to document my baby. Because that is mostly what my life is made up of presently. Or at least the only thing I take pictures of. I have thoughts about other aspects of womanhood/motherhood that I'd like to write down and maybe I will, but this is about all I can get myself motivated to do. And because she's the first and I want to remember these things for at least one child of mine....

Marjorie at 3 months:

-still in 0-3 month clothes, I think maybe in a few more weeks we might be moving up, but she is a tiny little thing!
-much smoother in her movements, but still a bit jerky
-just started grabbing and being able to hold on to things for a little bit--her lovey or her links
-can pull those items up to her mouth (kind of) and gum on them a little bit, but it does take an awful lot of concentration
-is still trying very hard to find her thumb and still adamantly refuses to use a binky 
-less gassy, but when she is gassy, gripe water doesn't seem to have the same instantly soothing effect it once had
-getting much better at burping (or mommy is getting better at burping) which probably helps with the gassiness
-ridiculously happy when she wakes up in the morning. She will laugh and talk away in her crib, kicking her legs up an down in her swaddle until someone picks her up. She can make a whole lot of noise kicking her legs down on the mattress!
-hated the care seat something fierce when we first got to CA but, she doesn't seem to hate it as much now. However, she will definitely not just stay asleep in it or hang out in it, if she's not in the car, she will let you know she is not pleased
-went through a growth spurt and was waking up once in the night again, but has returned to one dream feed between 10-11pm (when I go to sleep) and then sleeping until any where between 6 and 8am (I prefer the 8am wake ups)
-has begun taaaaaalking. She will lay there and gabble away for 15+ minutes when she's in a good mood
-in the last few days has hung out on her tummy for a few minutes before getting angry. This is much improved from being placed on her tummy and screaming within 30 seconds. She is also lifting her head up so high! But no rolling over yet

Mommy at 3 months:

-went off dairy to see if that would help with M's fussiness. So far it does seem to help, but I think she might have silent reflux as well. That will be a conversation with the doctor once we get back to NYC.
-loves how interactive Miss Marjorie is getting, it's nice to have some positive reinforcement to the ridiculous things I do
-slightly missing being at work, but not really. I am incredibly grateful I don't have to go back right now, right when she's starting to get a little fun
-thoroughly enjoying being at home in California with friends and family, but missing mommy friends in NYC

And now because I'm ridiculous and this blog has become my journal and it's an easy way to share pictures of my girl with my whole family (and I will never explain myself again)... a billion photos.