Happy Halloween!

Maya is two months today! Her skills currently include:

1. Smiling
2. Getting her hand in her mouth to suck on
3. Recognizing mom and dad's voices
4. Gurgling, cooing and baby 'talking' ( like little alien noises)
5. Being as cute as ever as she becomes increasingly more alert and interacting with the world.

Happy Halloween!

8 weeks and a house warmed

Maya is 8 weeks old and growing like a weed. We estimate that she is about 12lbs and therefore technically out of her 0-3 month clothing. With the weather turning colder I've had to learn how to layer her up and dress her warm enough to go outside. She hates hats but that big ol' baby noggin needs a hat - what can I do. The trick is getting her dressed and then jetting out the door fast enough to prevent her from overheating... (and screaming). Takes some practice and we haven't quite mastered it yet. Poor first child - always the experiment.

Last weekend we were thrilled to introduce friends and family to our new pad and to baby Maya. We had a great time at our housewarming and were happy to have so many out of town guests that made the trip! Not always easy to see good friends who have scattered after grad school so really it's good to have reasons to celebrate and get together.

My goal in the next couple weeks is to find a nanny for Maya since I plan to return to work in February but I'm traveling with her the whole month of December. A rather daunting and overwhelming task for a first time mom. We have a few interviews set up for next week and at least Brian is around and able to help screen candidates. He's been hard at work trying to secure a new position in this rather intimidating economy but it's great to have him around and spend time with baby.

Wednesday we're headed to a Halloween party for kiddies - I had to find something for her to wear her pumpkin halloween costume to and it will be a good opportunity to meet other new parents as well.

Our little jetsetter

Maya has been busy planning trips and getting to know her surroundings. She's official now as she got her social security card and her passport so she's set to go to Uruguay in December (take that Sarah Palin!!). Taking her passport picture a the post office was not easy. The clerk handed the camera over to Brian so she could tend to the growing line while we tried to get a picture with eyes open and not screaming - it was a team effort with Grandma Lynn making faces while Brian steadied the camera and I played with her pacifier and tried to keep her arms down (we had just woken her up to take the picture which she clearly thought was incredibly unfair, so the screaming was very justified).

We also introduced Maya to the Hamptons this past weekend. A welcome change of scenery since we hadn't gone since early August. It was a beautiful sunny warm weekend which was perfect for strolling around and window shopping. The Hamptons' farms are bursting with fall produce, pumpkins everywhere, apple picking, corn mazes and roasted corn on the cob. A lot of fun to see stores get ready for Halloween and families pushing wheel barrels of pumpkins bigger than they could carry. A great time to be out there and clearly we weren't only ones who thought so as the towns were packed. Also on the agenda is a trip to Williams for homecoming weekend and Boston for Thanksgiving. We're going to become pros at nursing and changing diapers in the car.

Maya who will be 7 weeks on Saturday has also started to smile at us which is incredibly adorable. She spends longer periods of time awake now and demands to be entertained. She loves to be held in your lap so she can see you and will make lots of faces and stare and study your gestures. She pushes up with her legs and tries to stand and while she still doesn't have much control of her hands which occasionally whack her in the face she has had a couple of successes getting her hand to her mouth. She clearly wants to be on the move and makes a great effort to hold her head up and push her legs to creep forward. I think we already know this girl is going to keep us on the move.

Here comes autumn

The weather has started to cool in New York City and we're feeling pretty cozy in our new place. We've enjoyed several walks along the water with baby and dogs. Maya is 5 weeks and got good marks at her 1 month checkup last week. She weighs 10lbs (!) and is 21 inches long putting her in the 90th percentile for weight and 75th percentile for height. Of course as soon as we stripped her of her diaper to weigh her at the pediatrician's she peed on the table.. oops. But she's doing great and growing lots which is what she needs to do - how could she not when she's hungry all the time! Look at those cheeks!! She did give me a break last night and slept from 10pm - 3am - her longest stretch yet so hopefully she's getting the hang of sleeping at night.

Lauren came to visit this past weekend with baby Nathan - great to see them and see Nathan who was a little peanut, only 4 weeks old when we saw them last, and a great opportunity to take lots of pictures of the kids together and introduce the cousins... well, maybe just introduce Nathan to Maya since she's still pretty oblivious. But he certainly acknowledged her and was reaching for her when we put them on a play mat together - so cute!! We strolled around the neighborhood and even made it out to dinner Saturday night with the kids in their strollers. It will be fun to get the whole gang together for Thanksgiving in Wellesley where the kids and dogs will outnumber the adults.. but it would be much to quiet any other way.

Made the move

After a whirlwind couple of weeks we are getting settled in our new apartment in Long Island City. Luckily my parents were around to help and did a lot of work to get us packed and then to get us unpacked so we had a functional apartment. Not easy to find the time to pack with a newborn - but we made it through. Everything is pretty much in it's place and just requires organizing at this point, but we are out of boxes thankfully and managed to get blinds installed and our cable, internet and phone up and running (just in time for tonight's presidential debate). The dogs not surprisingly our pretty confused - Kahlua still turns the wrong way out of the elevator and doesn't know what to do on the other side of the elevator bank when he is confronted with a new hallway. Bailey was a little quicker to catch on. But we've enjoyed our walks along the East River, it's a peaceful neighborhood that doesn't have the traffic that 37th street did in Manhattan where the Midtown tunnel let's out.

Maya has slept in her crib in her own room every night this week which adds a little extra sleep time for mom and dad since we don't hear all her little grunts and gurgles that keep us up. Inevitable the louder yelp that says ''I'm hungry, feed me" I do hear at least twice if not three times a night, and I somehow make it to her room and into the rocking chair Grandma Lynn and Grandpa Gib gave us to nurse. She's adjusted well to her crib and a tight swaddle helps get her down. She's going to be 4 weeks tomorrow which is hard to believe, I still feel as if the birth just happened. Here's the pumpkin trying to relax after a meal in her bouncy seat (pacifier veeeery important for digestion apparently).

What day is it today?

We've reached the end of week two - and the days are somewhat of a blur. Brian went back to work and Grandma Carmen stepped in to keep me company and help out with baby. We made it out for lunch a few times during the week which was fun, gave Maya her first bath at home, and have continued to pack the apartment during Maya's naps (around the daily chores of laundry, more laundry, meals, shopping, dog walking and cleaning)- we move next weekend to our new place in Long Island City. We had a couple of rough nights and days as Maya seems to have found her voice this week and is not afraid to use it! And at other times she's relaxed and goes from nap to feeding to changing back to feeding without much fuss. Guess we all have good days and bad days. Overall I am not feeling that sleep deprived since she does conk out for 3-4 hours at a time after most feedings, and sleeping when the baby sleeps was the best advice I got. Brian is perhaps a different story. We're still figuring out our nighttime routine to maximize sleep for all. We inherited a couple of key items this week from some of Brian's coworkers - topping the list is a vibrating bouncy seat which came in the nick of time and really seems to soothe Maya. We also got a baby gym mat with a canopy that you hang toys from and the promise of a co-sleeper which will come in handy in our new place because her crib won't fit in our new bedroom. So much stuff!!

The dogs have taken to Maya better than expected - they sniff her and otherwise pretty much leave her alone. Kahlua has been quite curious and even jumped on the couch (which he hasn't attempted in a long time) to get a better look. Bailey on the other hand approaches her rather shyly and appears worried he'll do something wrong. But they've been great - dealing with less attention and rolling with the punches. We'll see what transpires after our move, that's a lot of changes for two pups who are accustomed to a daily routine and lots of attention. Might require another trip to the pet store for some new toys. Overall we're doing pretty well and adjusting to our new schedule. We're looking forward to the next couple of months and introducing Maya to friends and family.

1 week already!!

Tomorrow is the one week mark of Maya's birth! How did that happen? The week flew by - we spent the first 48 hours just trying to get things done - errands to the pharmacy, some shopping for basic easy meals, laundry - lots of laundry and trying to figure out the whole feeding, sleeping thing and of course I was recovering from the birth itself (total body work out - my ribs hurt, who would have expected that?). Yesterday we had a visit from our doula Mary Esther, who was with us for the birth. A fantastic and experienced woman who was also our Bradley childbirth instructor. She was incredibly supportive during the birth and allowed us to take our minds of any real worries with continuous encouragement and reassurance that everything was going fine. Yesterday's visit focused on feedings for the little peanut so that we're both comfortable during and after (mom less sore, baby less gassy - because Maya is a little barracuda!!). It was great to see her and get some advice as well as talk through our birth story with her.

It was interesting how I remember the birth somewhat differently from those who witnessed it - she commented that I started out being very detailed in my story and then my memory became hazier on the events as the night went on and I was less clear on what had occurred in what order. All in all it was a quick labor with organized contractions that started around 9pm and became close together very quickly. We called Mary Esther around 10pm to let her know we were having regular contractions (for the first time they were 6, then 5 mins apart). Within an hour they were 2 mins apart lasting a good minute and we called her back and called our midwife. Brian was on the phone with everyone while I was laboring any way I could in our living room. Mary Esther picked us up in her car a little after 12 (we were waiting for her downstairs outside the building and several people stopped to ask if we needed help - pretty funny to see a women in labor clinging to the poles of our building canopy) we were in the hospital by 12:30 and Maya was born at 7:10am. Could not have asked for a better natural delivery. We had a great birth team with our midwife who hung back and gave things time, doula and the intermittent nurse and were lucky enough to have gone into labor in the nick of time to have our baby in the birthing center at Roosevelt hospital. I was 1 day shy of 41 weeks which although not uncommon for first pregnancies, you are 'risked out' of the birthing center and have to go to regular labor and delivery. Instead we were able to labor, deliver and recover in a room that looked more like a bedroom than a hospital room - complete with queen size bed and jacuzzi tub (which we definitely used).

After the birth we were able to nap in bed with baby in the middle which was really nice. My parents came over with lunch from Whole Foods and we spent the rest of the day relaxing. The baby never leaves the room for measuring or other tests - everything comes to you.

Yesterday grandma Lynn arrived in New York and Grandpa Gib is on his way today. We made it out for breakfast this morning with Maya asleep in her stroller (first meal out - whoo hoo!). All in all I'm feeling fine 1 week out and loving watching the scale go down everyday - I've lost 24 lbs in 6 days putting me within 6 lbs of my pre-pregnancy weight (yes, my ankles were very swollen) and was able to put my wedding rings back on last night! Maya is truly amazing and we feel nothing but incredibly lucky and incredibly blessed to have her.