Rosita

Yet another reason why Sesame Street is so spectacular: 'Rosita'! I have only purchased 2 toys for Violet thanks to the huge supply of hand-me-downs from my amazing sister-in-laws: 1) Jack the Giraffe and 2) Rosita.

Rosie came from a great little toy shop on PCH in LB, BUT she had beans in her! Violet is starting to put things in her mouth and gum/munch (she's cutting her first tooth, too!)... But Rosie was SO stinking cute and made Violet smile and giggle :) So I did what any good mommy would do... I bought the cute toy, cut it open, took the beans out re-stuffed it with batting, then sewed it back up :) It's the PERFECT size for her, too! She can grab Rosie's hand and shove her into her mouth :) Just fantastic :)

4 Months

Today our baby is 4 months old!! I can't believe it! We've had a very exciting past few days! Let's recap!

Saturday: Gramma Johnson flew down from Washington to visit for the weekend! V loves her gramma and any minute to be cuddled and sang to is happiness for her :) We got together at our house with my mom (gramma), sister, brother in law, and brother for a BBQ and cake/ice cream for Jakie's birthday - he turned 26!! My mom made a delicious chocolate ganache to go on the cake and ice cream :) My only mistake was forgetting about V's reflux and eating foods I should've stayed away from... Hence a refluxing night and she WOKE up after 6 hrs (I know! Unheard of!)... She went back to sleep for another 6 hrs, but I felt bad she woke up because my mom and brother stayed the night. It was great though :) I can't believe Jake is 26!!

Sunday: woke up and went to breakfast (gramma's treat) with gramma, Jake, Matt, and Violet :) Then mama helped me with my roses, planted a new flower, renewed my peach tree, replanted my succulents, and planted cherry tomatoes. She's such a green thumb! I wish she was closer so she could more adequately mentor me through the process... At this point she revs me up when she visits, plants amazing things, then comes back to visit only to find deadness. Sorry mama :( She left Sunday evening along with Jake who drove back home to palm springs. I miss them :(

Today (we'll skip Monday): Violet spent an hour and 15 minutes at daycare this morning! She's going 2x this week to get familiar with the place. Miss Veronica was amazing and put me at ease about Violet being a stinker with the bottle :) I truly love her and knowing Violet will be with her makes my heart happy... Even though it's not me. Then we went to swim class and lunch with friends :) Then we went on a run with Odie (4.5 miles), both babies were pooped afterwards :) Odie was so tired that when I let him out through the back, he just laid down right there (he usually sprints around to the grass)... Poor tired baby :)

Did I mention V is 4 months old?! Our baby is growing up :)

Play Dates Rock!

We had a really fun day today starting with a pajama party till 11 (meaning we stayed in our jammies all morning), play date at 12:30, then a speechies dinner party at 6:30 while daddy played poker in the garage with a few guys :)

Our play dates are so much fun with our big group! This time we had 6 babies and mommies. We had planned to do a baby pool party outside, but it was a little cool and drizzly which is NOT common for a California summer! We had a great time nonetheless :) So much that Violet took a 1 hr nap on her tummy AT our date! Unheard of for her since she's a watcher :)

Then we went to World Market to try to get her some new curtains. She has a double rod right now with fabulous curtains, but they let in too much light! I'm trying to find cute ones that'll block some light and not change the entire feel of her nursery (which I love - see pic)... I found a pair, but don't like them after bringing them home. Next try... Target and Ikea!

Our speechie get together was lots of fun, too :) It's always nice getting together with the speech team to catch up on life :) Great people, great conversation, great food :)

Only thing is that when you have a super exciting day, baby gets a bit feisty at night :) I left the speechie party at 8:30 (V's usually asleep by then) and had her bathed and nursing by 9, but it took me an hr and 15 min to get her to sleep (45 min at first but then she woke up 10 min later). So she's finally asleep and I'm getting ready for bed :)

Odie missed us :)

Tuckered out

Today V took her usual 30 minute naps, but then surprised me with an hour and 15 min nap! Must've been the swim class and lunch date that tuckered her out, mixed with 30 min of tummy time!

AND she took another ounce from Matt just now on her changing table! First bit she's taken outside of her tub! Interesting the places we've tried feeding her a bottle :) At this point we'd do just about anything! Still refuses to take one from me though, but no worries since I have her favorite baby beer on tap :)

We're very excited for this weekend because gramma Johnson is flying down! She hasn't snuggled Violet since she was 5 weeks old! Oh boy is gramma gonna be shocked by our bundle of happiness!

Target

Yet another reason why target is amazing!! Their baskets were made for my snap n go!!

One Ounce Success!

After a LONG day of tears and worriedness, Matt came home and suggested we try one of the bottles we had given up on... Tommy Tipee (shorter nipple, wider base). We tried it before supper and she surprisingly tolerated it and didn't gag! Then we tried again in her tub tonight (thats her favorite place) and she took 1 oz from Matt!!! I was so happy I cried :) Funny thing is, right when we got her in the tub she was real serious... Not her usual talkative, happy, splashing self. Then she took that ounce and immediately turned back into our tub loving Violet :) Kind of like she had her game face on, scored a goal/homerun/touchdown, and then joined us for the party :)

I'm not sure if it's been all the gum massaging, bottle play, or Matt's 'game talk' he had with her right before, but I'm SOOO happy and relieved :) Hopefully she keeps it up and takes another ounce or two tomorrow :) Then I may be ordering a whole new bottle set from amazon (Tommy Tipee) to replace the one we have right now that she won't use (Dr. Browns)!

Ps- to add to this bundle, I think Biolet is cutting a tooth! Lower right one... Eek!

Why???

So I'm a complete wreck right now all over again. I feel like I did back when Violet was a week old and wouldn't latch to save her life... But now for the opposite reason because she won't take a bottle anymore. I go back to work in 4 weeks and am just frustrated, worried, and sad to top it off. We've been working so hard to get this, but she just won't do it. Today I broke down in tears and I had a déjà vu back to when she was a week and a half and I tried to bottle feed her to 'supplement' her and she couldn't do it... I though back then, 'if my baby can't bottle feed, how is she EVER going to nurse?!' Well she learned and now is a chubba chubba, but none of that gives me piece of mind when I'm leaving her at daycare 4 days a week. Poor Veronica... What is she going to think?! I feel very helpless right now. I emailed our lactation consultant again for more help... I have a feeling I just need to be more patient with her since it's only been 4 days since we started this new routine Susan (the lactation lady) gave us.

Violet is asleep in my arms right now (probably worn out from all my crying). She's just the cutest happiest little thing. Poor girl is probably wondering why Matt and I are shoving silicone objects in her mouth...

On the bright side, Odie is amazing and brings calm to my storm :) He does everything like a champ :) He's also very patient with me when I'm spending time with V :)