Saturday, February 28, 2009

Our Little Social Butterfly

Kaylani has more friends than we do. Well, that's not entirely possible since we're friends with all of Kaylani's friends parents, but Kaylani is quite the little social butterfly. And without her, we're not even sure what we would have done.

Actually, I can tell you exactly what we would have done. We probably would have been unhappy and friendless in Lawrenceville (which is not quite as catchy as Sleepless in Seattle). That's kinda what happened to us in Orlando. We lived there for a year, but since neither of us really worked in the area, we didn't meet any friends and ended up not leaving anyone (or anything) behind. But things are different now with Kaylani.

We moved to Lawrenceville just about 11 months ago and only had 1 friend in the area at the time. But since then, we've met a lot of couples that we hang out with, and every single one of them has a child around Kaylani's age. And every single one of them we met because of Kaylani. Whether it was at a birthing class, or through Church, or through a post-natal exercise class, they all center around Kaylani.

It's funny how having a baby makes you social. Even without being actively social, having a baby makes people talk to you. And when people with babies talk to each other, you build that friendship. No matter how different the people are, they'll always have at least one thing in common, and that's lack of sleep, I mean, being a parent.

I'm a shy person by nature, which most of you will find unbelieveable, but it's true. I'm shy around people I don't know, and completely outgoing around those people I do know. Luckily for me, Kaylani has no problems being outgoing around complete strangers. So from here on out, the plan is to let Kaylani take the lead, and I'll follow her. And that's just another reason why I couldn't be any happier to have her in my life.

Friday, February 27, 2009

Straight to the Mouth


Ever since Kaylani discovered her hands, they've been in her mouth. They go in, and come back out (with a whole lot of drool along with them). And once she figured out how to hold and grab things, that just gave her a whole new world of things to stick in her mouth. I have read that babies use their sense of taste to explore new things, but it's pretty silly to watch (and gross)!

I can't say that I'm too much different from Kaylani. Well, I don't put things in my mouth that aren't edible, but if it's food, in it goes (excluding my current dietary period). But with Kaylani, it's not food that goes in her mouth (although our pediatrician did say we can start food once we get back from PR next month...very exciting). It's everything else that goes in her mouth for now. Rattle? Mouth. Stuffed animal? Mouth. Daddy's finger? Mouth. Bib? Mouth.

Speaking of her bib, I thought bib's were supposed to catch drool and keep her clothes clean (at least her chest area). The way I've seen Kaylani use a bib is as an appetizer, or just another thing to put in her mouth. And the fact that it's conveniently strapped around her neck and doesn't go anywhere probably makes it the best thing ever for her! Imagine if you had food that never ran out strapped around your neck? Man, that'd be pretty sweet! I'd be able to eat steak whenever I wanted, although I bet I'd get attacked by more dogs then I do now (which is none...luckily).

They say the quickest way to a man's heart is through his stomach (which is definitely true for me by the way). I'm not sure what the quickest way to Kaylani's heart is, but the quickest way to her mouth is definitely through her hand, or in her hand, or just her hand in general. We're just hopeful that in 3 weeks, when we give her rice cereal, fruits, and veggies for the first time, she's as willing to put things in her mouth and keep them there as she is now. Otherwise, food coming back out with a whole lot of drool to go along with it will be just a bit messier then her toys that go the same route.

Anyways, here are pictures from the last 2 days to close out Kaylani's 16th week with us. Can't wait for week 17, because it means we're one week closer to week 18, which is Puerto Rico time!

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Welcome to the Sickside

So Kaylani's sick again. Well, it's possible she never fully recovered from her fever last Sunday, but the bottom line is she's sick. And since we didn't go to the pediatrician earlier this week, we decided that we should go today. It's only the second time we've been to the pediatrician while Kaylani was sick (because this is Kaylani's 2nd cold). And since this was the second time, I processed things a little bit differently.

Last time Kaylani had a cold, it was 4:50pm on a Friday afternoon when we went to the pediatrician. I remember it well because we were headed up to Boston that night and wanted to make sure Kaylani was well enough to make the trip. Since it was 10 minutes before the office closed, there was no one in there besides us and we got seen right away. At that time, it was just like a regular visit.

This time, it was 11am on a Thursday morning, and we were definitely not the only people in the office waiting to be seen. The office is separated into 2 sides, the Wellside, where all the healthy kids go and that we've always sat on, and the Sickside, where you're supposed to sit when your kids are sick so you don't get kids on the wellside sick. Since Kaylani was sick, we obviously sat on the sickside. And I didn't like it one bit.

I like the idea of a sickside to keep the healthy kids from getting sick. Well, I like the idea of a sickside when we're the ones sitting on the wellside that is! But being on the sickside not only means the healthy kids don't get sick (in theory), but it also means that the sickside kids could get sicker! Kaylani has a minor cold that consists of a lowgrade fever, slight cough, and a runny nose that should last less than 5 days. Nothing serious, but still enough to put us on the sickside. The little girl 4 feet in front of us had pneumonia. Does anyone see a problem here?

Here we are on the sickside. Kaylani with a minor cold, and a little girl with pneumonia. I'm pretty sure that the person in the office with the most to lose is not any of the kids on the wellside, but Kaylani! I know it's not right, but I'm going to have to say that I would have rather sat on the wellside and risked the other kids getting a minor cold then have Kaylani get pneumonia! If we were healthy and on the wellside, I'd let a little kid with a minor cold come over so they wouldn't get pneumonia. Okay, maybe I wouldn't, but I would have today!

Anyways, there's no real way around it, and we're just hoping that Kaylani doesn't get pneumonia, or whatever the other 2 kids on the sickside had. Maybe they should consider a sickerside, and we can put all the minor cold kids together, and anything more serious over there. They could even have a chicken pox side, and parents could put their kids in there if they have the chicken pox, or want their kids to get the chicken pox (makes more sense then the chicken pox parties that actually exist).

Well I've rambled on to long. Must be the lack of sleep, or the constant worry that Kaylani caught something worse then her minor cold at the pediatrician's office today. Whatever it is, let's just hope that all the kids at the office today (and even those not at the office) get better from whatever it is they're going through. And if that could happen, maybe we wouldn't need a sickside at all.

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

4:09am


When we sent out Kaylani's birth announcement via email, one of the emails we got back simply said "Congrats! And welcome to 4:09am (the time she was born) - it's a time you'll grow very familiar with." I hadn't really grown familiar with 4:09am, or really anytime in the early morning yet. Sure, I had paid it a visit every now and then, but nothing that I would label as familarity. Until a few days ago that is.

Lately, she's been falling asleep just fine on her own at night, so that part of sleep training has worked. But the frustrating part is that she's been waking up every 3 hours on most nights, and only sleeps 6 hours at a time as the exception. We'd much rather have it work the other way like it used to, but there's nothing we can really do about it right now (although we're sure gonna try!)

The funny thing (not funny "haha", but funny "awww, that's sad") about Kaylani waking up after 3 hours is that it's usually only an hour after we've gone to sleep, or more specifically, an hour after Daddy has fallen asleep (it takes Mommy much longer to fall asleep). Also, Kaylani's cry after 3 hours of sleep isn't a full cry. It's more like a staggered cry that drags out over a long period of time. It goes something like "Wah..........wah......wahhh......wah..............wah"

So when Mommy has just about fallen asleep for the first time, she has to get up and calm Kaylani down or actually nurse her if she looks hungry or inconsoleable. Then, after another 2 to 3 hours, this all happens again. It's usually not until the 2nd or 3rd time before Daddy gets moving (typically between 3 and 5am). And whenever Daddy does finally decide to get his butt out of bed, it's like Kaylani knows it because she starts to play games.

Daddy will be halfway out of bed and towards the door when Kaylani stops crying. Conveniently, halfway happens to be right in front of the video monitor, so he can then stare at Kaylani who seems to be peacefully sleeping. Off comes the robe, and back into bed. And without fail, as soon as Daddy pulls the covers up over him, Kaylani cries again. Back out of bed, robe back on, and head towards the door again. And of course, silence...again.

This goes on for about 2 to 3 trips out of bed, or 10 minutes, which seems more like an hour when its early in the morning. But when she actually cries, Daddy goes to calm her, pick her up, rock her, bounce her, or whatever her until she falls asleep. Then, just to make sure she stays asleep and doesn't make a random cry to wake Mommy up, Daddy will head to his computer for a little bit to check his mail, read some sports, or play around on Facebook. And on days like today, by the time he's sure Kaylani is asleep, it's 5:45 or 6am, which is too close to the time he normally gets up to head back to bed.

I actually don't mind being up at 4am and staying up. Of course I'd rather be sleeping, but if I'm out of bed either with Kaylani or on my computer in the office, it means that Mommy gets a few hours of uninterrupted sleep which is important since she's the one that holds this family together. So if starting my day 3 hours early is what it takes, then that's what it will take. At least that's what it'll take until we figure out how to get her to sleep for 6-8 hours again. That's tonight's mission, which starts now (or more likely 3 hours from now).

Anyways, Kaylani's about to go into bed (late night for her!) and so is Daddy so that he can take the first shift and try something new with her. I'll let you know how our new plan is working in a few days, but in the meantime, here are pictures from the last 3 days. Enjoy!

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

I Loved Her First

I got in my car after a long day at work today and the first thing I heard was the beginning of "I Loved Her First" by Heartland and a woman thanking the station for playing it since she was getting married this weekend. It instantly wiped away any lingering thoughts I had about my long day, and put me in a different place for the first 4 minutes of my drive. For those of you who don't know, that's the song that I've already designated as the Father-Daughter dance song at Kaylani's wedding.

I've been reluctant to think of Kaylani in the future because time is already going by so quickly, but it does happens occasionally. Sometimes Mommy and Daddy will talk briefly about what she'll be like as a toddler, or Daddy will make a remark about how Kaylani won't date until she's 30, but it doesn't come up often since we think 6 months is far away, let alone 6, 16, or 26 years. But when that song was playing over the radio, I really connected with it today. It was probably because the song talks about those moments felt at the very beginning, and that's something that's so fresh in my mind right now (and hopefully forever). So for a 4 minute period tonight, Daddy allowed himself to think of Kaylani getting married and it made me a little sad to be honest.

I wasn't sad that Kaylani was getting married because I do hope that she does to someone that loves her as much as I love Mommy. I was more sad that I'd be losing my little girl to someone else. Sure it's selfish to think that way, but you can't really blame me because she's only 3.5 months old now. Now when she's much older and I'm still thinking selfishly, then you can blame me. But for now, it's my little girl that I'll be losing.

I'm sure every parent wishes the best future for their children, and I know I'll be just like every other parent in that regard. But I just can't imagine what I'll be feeling whenever that day comes. I can't even imagine what it will be like when Kaylani can roll over from her back to her belly, or sit up, crawl, or even walk, and those things all will likely happen within 1 year!

Anyways, I'm sure I'll post again sometime about how I'm deathly afraid of what's going to happen when Kaylani is a toddler, or worse, a teenager, but for now, I'm not going to think anymore about Kaylani getting married. It's way too soon and I'm being a bit ridiculous. But to end this post, here's the chorus (and video) of "I Loved Her First" that put me in this mindset to begin with:

I loved her first
I held her first
And a place in my heart
Will always be hers
From the first breath she breathed
When she first smiled at me
I knew the love of a father runs deep
And I prayed that she'd find you someday
But it's still hard to give her away
I loved her first

Monday, February 23, 2009

So tired at home...

Kaylani's fever was all gone by this morning, but the side effects of her fever were still hanging around just a little bit. She woke up every hour last night with the highest fever being 100.6, but since then, it's been back to normal between 98.4 and 99.4. But just because her temperature was back to normal doesn't mean that she was back to normal.

Daddy went back to work today which left Mommy with Sicky Baby Duty (and sicky baby doody) all by herself. Like I said though, Kaylani wasn't actually sick, but just had a few of the side effects. And those side effects included being fussy, not eating all too well, and just wanting to be held the entire time she was awake. It doesn't sound like that big of a deal, but having experienced it first hand for a little bit on Sunday allows me to understand just a little bit of what Mommy went through today.

When Kaylani wasn't being fussy, she was napping. And she napped pretty well today, but that's probably because she was sleeping off the rest of her fever, just like she did on Sunday. But unlike Sunday, it was just Mommy home by herself. She couldn't play cards with Daddy, or read a magazine, or just talk with him. Instead, she was just home with either a fussy baby or a sleeping baby.

It's days like these that really make me understand what it's like to be a stay at home mom. Actually, it's days like Sunday that make me understand. It's days like today that make me appreicate Mommy even more since she does this every day. Days when Kaylani is being fussy or when she's sleeping a lot are long days. Long days that seem even longer when you stare at the clock and watch the minutes tick by.

The point is that Mommy is the best because she does what she does every day, and she doesn't even complain about it (well, not much at least). She doesn't complain about it because she loves Kaylani as much as possible and would do anything for her. So if it's sitting there staring at a clock while Kaylani takes a nap, or holding her for hours at a time because she won't take a nap, then that's what she does. And for that, Mommy will always be #1 in my eyes. Kaylani's a very close #2, but Mommy is my #1. Okay fine, maybe Mommy and Kaylani are tied for #1. Either way, I love them both as much as I ever could. And that's something that will never change.

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Baby's First Fever


We handled Kaylani's first cold well enough back in January, and it turned out to be a really minor cold. But today Kaylani stepped it up a bit and had her first real fever. And because of that, our plans for a lazy Sunday started off with a whole lot of concern and a whole lot of love to help us get over it.

Kaylani woke up for the first time at 3am, which was just over 6 hours after we had put her down. Daddy took her, changed her, and got her ready for Mommy. It was then that he thought she felt a little warm, but since she was changed already and not too fussy, he let it go. At 5am, Mommy woke up again with Kaylani. She took her, changed her, nursed her, and also thought she felt a little warm, but she too let it go. At 7am, it was a little odd for Kaylani to wake up every 2 hours, but since she was responsive and playing with her toes when Daddy was changing her, again he thought nothing of it. It wasn't until 9am that the thermometer came out.

At 9am, Kaylani still felt warm. Daddy had finished changing her diaper again, but this time, he decided to take her temperature and wasn't happy with what it was. It read 102.9, which was way too high for his little girl (or any little girl for that matter)! Next came the call to the pediatrician, followed by the longest 15 minutes ever. Waiting for the off-hour call back and holding his sad, sick little girl was almost too much. Much pacing was done, and lots of hugging and kissing (more so then usual).

The pediatrician said it sounded like a normal virus passing through, and nothing more than Infants' Tylenol every 4 hours would be needed. By 11:30, Kaylani's temperature had lowered to 101.9 which was progress. And after a 3 hour nap, her temperature was down to 101.4. Another dose of Tylenol at 2:30pm, and by 3:30, her tempeature was much better at 100.9. By 5:30, her temperature was back to 100.4 and Mommy and Daddy finally felt a little bit better.

Surviving Kaylani's first fever wasn't easy. We were worried until her temperature dropped, and then spent most of the day watching her nap (which was a good thing). We also kept thinking back to things that might have made her sick, wondering where we went wrong. Was it the bath 2 nights ago? Or did she get sick when we were running errands yesterday out in the cold? Or maybe her room is too cold at night? But in the end, we made the right decision and told ourselves that babies get sick, and that was it. We didn't do anything wrong.

So it's now 8pm and she just had a nice relaxing lukewarm bath which we hope will get rid of the fever for good. Her temperature is 100.6 right now and she's not due for another dose of Infants' Tylenol until 10:30pm, but hopefully she'll be asleep and won't need it until a few hours after that. We're not out of the woods yet, but so far, looks like we've survived Kaylani's first fever.

Since today's picture is so sad, I had to post other happier pictures from the last couple of days. Take a look and see what she's like with a smile on her face instead of watery, sad eyes. And to show the power of Infants' Tylenol, there's even pictures of her smiling from today. Hope she's smiling tonight and into tomorrow for us too...

Saturday, February 21, 2009

You need to be committed

You need to be committed if you're going to have a baby, and I don't mean mental institution committed (although for some people, that may be the case). But having a baby does take a real commitment because they consume so much of your time and energy. If you're head or your heart aren't in it 100%, then there's a chance that things won't go that well for you.

We're completely committed to Kaylani and would do anything for her. Today, we ran a bunch of Kaylani errands, which are slightly different than our normal errands. And since Kaylani slept until 10:30am (after waking up at 6am initially), we got a late start heading out the door. But after a long stop at the bank to open her own savings account (she now has more money then we do!), and lunch, we decided to head to IKEA to find things for her new playroom.

If it was just us running errands, there probably would have been a good chance that we called it a day after lunch and avoided the 35 minute drive out to PA. But we did it because we had to take advantage of a free weekend, and also because Kaylani deserves a nice playroom. So 3 hours later, we were headed back towards home finally (empty handed, but with some great ideas).

We've also been committed to our sleep training, and have avoided picking her up and rocking/bouncing her to sleep lately and I think it's finally paying off. She typically falls asleep on her own pretty quickly, and then when she wakes up in the middle of the night or the morning, she'll just stay quietly in her crib and sometimes falls back asleep.

And lastly, Daddy has been committed to his weight loss goals. At exactly 2 weeks after his Doctor told him to lose 18lbs, he's lost 10lbs already, and is going strong after the remaining 8. Without Kaylani, it's hard to say if I would have been this committed towards losing the weight (especially this quickly). But that's what Kaylani does for me. She has me committed...which is different then her having me committed, which won't be for many years I hope.

Friday, February 20, 2009

Splish Splash!

I'm not sure who originally sang the song and I'm pretty sure Kaylani doesn't either, but tonight, she was "splishin' and a splashin', rollin' and a strollin', movin' and a groovin'" during bath time! We actually thought tonight was going to be a calm bath night since she looked pretty sleepy the hour before, but we couldn't have been more wrong.

Kaylani's bath time is broken into 3 parts: the face and body, the head, and then relax/playtime. And in between each part we dump the water out of her tub and basically start over with fresh water. The first two parts went as they always do with her sitting there calmly while we clean hered and poured water over her. And we really thought she was tired tonight because she cried when we picked her up to dump the water out (on normal non-overtired nights, she won't even flinch at the sound of the water being dumped into our jacuzzi tub).

When we finished with the soap and started relax/play time, we noticed she was being a bit more active then she normally was by that point. She was kicking her legs a bit and causing some water to splash out. It wasn't anything huge yet, but for the first time, I think she realized SHE was causing the water to splash. As the tub started to get a bit fuller, Daddy started "the waterfall", which is when he pours water into the tub from an arms length up in the air. On most nights, Kaylani will stare up at the water as it comes down, and then wait until it happens again. Tonight, was not most nights.

Once the first waterfall hit the water, Kaylani began to kick around wildly. She was splashing water all over the place with her legs and looked like she was riding an underwater bicycle. And when the waterfall stopped, so did Kaylani. We did this about 5 times and watched as Kaylani would follow the cup up in the air, and then wait for the water to start coming out before she kicked away. And when it stopped, she would stop. By the time Mommy ran downstairs to grab the video camera, the tub was pretty full, but that didn't stop Daddy! So we did a few more times for the camera just for good measure. And that lead to a bit of a wet countertop and floor in our bathroom. But after all, making a bath time mess is something we're just going to have to get used to.

So bath time tonight was more like splash time. And since Kaylani wasn't camera shy tonight, we were able to record some great footage! Without further ado, I now present to you, Kaylani's splash time:

Thursday, February 19, 2009

You gotta be flexible!


Flexibility is pretty important, and something that Daddy does not have. He's not flexible when it comes to schedules or timing, and he's definitely not flexible when it comes to his body. Kaylani, on the other hand, is flexible in both regards. She couldn't care less about a schedule or being on time (she got that from Mommy). But where she really shows off her flexibility is when she grabs her toes.

It's her newest trick, and it started about a week ago. Lately, she's getting even better at it and will spend a few minutes just grabbing her toes and rolling from side to side. It's really adorable to watch, and we wish it was warmer out so she doesn't always have to wear socks or onesies with feet all the time! Actually, I just wish it was March already so we can head to Puerto Rico! In PR, she'll be able to play with her toes all the time (as long as she's out of the sun that is)!

To grab her toes, it's really cute to watch her lift both her legs (and her butt) up towards the sky. Then, when her feet get high enough in the air, she grabs them with one or both of her hands, and just rolls side to side. Daddy, thinking that her rolling side to side while grabbing her feet/toes will help her roll over from her back to her belly, tries to help sometimes by pushing her. And when he does that, she either flops over on her belly or immediately straightens up so that she's flat on her back. And when she straightens up, it's almost like she's saying "stop pushing me!"

The downside to her finding her toes is tht she finds them in the middle of the night too. Maybe she did this pre-video monitor, but now that we have it, it's kinda fun to see her grab her toes in the privacy of her own crib. It of course means she's not sleeping, but if she's quiet in her crib, no complaints coming from here! She also finds them when we're changing her diaper, which is usually helpful, except when we have blowouts. Then it's not really that helpful!

Anyways, the last couple of posts have been kinda long, so I'll make this one short. But, since it ties in so well with this post, here are pictures from the last 2 days so you can see her in all her toe grabbing cuteness! Enjoy!

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Computer Addict

Daddy has spent a majority of his life in front of a computer. From the second he started using LOGO on his very own Apple IIe when he was 4 years old (remember the digital turtle that you could make go crazy by using the right commands??), his parents knew that he was going to be obsessed with computers. Back in 1984, anyone using a computer was pretty ahead of the game, so a 4 year old using a computer was REALLY ahead of the game, and that was Daddy. And 25 years later, he's still obsessed with the computer.

Kaylani's not even 4 months old yet, and already I think she's obsessed with the computer. I think she's obsessed with TV/monitors in general, but since we don't let her watch TV (or watch TV in front of her) anymore, it's just down to the computer. Well actually, we don't LET her watch the computer, but she does anyways. And if Daddy wants to keep this blog a daily blog, then it's going to have to be something we just accept.

Every night while Mommy nurses Kaylani before bedtime, it signals the start of roughly 25 minutes that Daddy has to get the following things done: turn on the nightlight, prepare Kaylani's blanket for bedtime, fill the humidifier, get Mommy water, write his blog, and then read it to Kaylani and Mommy. The first 4 things take less than 5 minutes, so that leaves about 20 for writing and reading. And on average, it takes about 15 minutes to write and post. It's during these 15 minutes that we noticed Kaylani's obsession with the computer.

When it's time for Kaylani to take a break from nursing, Mommy burps her, and then stands her up for a few seconds so she can switch sides. It's during these few seconds that Kaylani finds the light of the computer (which isn't hard since it's dark in the room except for the light from the monitor) and stares at it. She stares at it the entire time she's not nursing, and twists her head as far as she can so she can still see it while she's trying to nurse. Sometimes, when she's really attentive still, she'll actually unlatch so she can see the computer (which is not one of Mommy's favorite things).

The "scientific explanation" would be that Kaylani is attracted to the light in the dark room. But Daddy didn't become a scientist for a reason, so forget the scientific explanation. Daddy's explanation is that Kaylani takes after him, and will also become obsessed with the computer. And the fact that she started 4 years earlier then Daddy just means that she'll be far more advanced then he will, which I have to admit, would make her pretty damned advanced.

Anyways, it's time to wrap it up and shut down since she's staring our way right now. It's lights out time in Kaylani's room, which also means its time to start the night's sleep training session. As a quick update, she's been sleeping the first 5 to 6 hours after only crying for 10-15 minutes, so I guess it's working. We're still hoping she'll turn that into 8 or 9 hours, but she might just be too old for that now. Oh well, it was a good run while it lasted!

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Can you see me now?


I think I've made it pretty clear that I'm going to keep a watchful eye on Kaylani when she's older. No boys, no sleepovers, no nights out, no excuses. And it's also been pretty clear that Mommy doesn't agree with me on these points, and we're going to run into some issues in the future when she helps Kaylani get out of the house and starts to cover for her. But before my blood pressure rises even higher thinking about Kaylani and boys, there is one thing that Mommy and Daddy agree on, and that's the decision to install a video monitor in Kaylani's room.

A couple of months ago we held off on buying a video monitor because we thought it was unnecessary. Back then, she was in her crib and barely moved, so the only reason to have a video monitor would be so we could stare at her without disturbing her. And after doing some research on video monitors, $300 was too steep of a price to justify staring at her while she sleeps without disturbing her. After all, I could stare at her while she slept for free as long as I was quiet! But this past week, things changed.

Kaylani has a Fisher Price Aquarium that we put in her crib sometimes when she's being fussy and won't take a nap on her own. It snaps on to the side of the crib and she can stare at it until she gets bored and falls asleep, at least that's how it's supposed to work. What Mommy found out one day was that Kaylani likes it so much that she somehow wiggles her way closer to it so she can press her face right up against the aquarium. So when Mommy came back into her room and saw her with her cheek up against the aquarium, we thought we should revisit the video monitor idea just in case.

Another reason in favor of the video monitor presented itself this past week as we started sleep training Kaylani. Since the sleep training that we chose involves leaving Kaylani alone (read: crying) in her crib for 5-10 minutes at a time before we go back in the room to calm her, we have no way to see what's actually going on in there. Hearing her cry is painful enough, so adding the constant worry that something might actually be bothering her (other then tiredness) is too much. Actually, the real reason that this put us in the video monitor market was because after Kaylani would stop crying and fall asleep after 10-15 minutes (normally), Mommy would make Daddy go in the room and check on her to see if she was okay.

And when the latest Babies R Us circular came out and had 15% off any monitor, we went out and splurged. We bought the Summer Infant Complete Coverage Video Monitoring System, which includes the video camera (of course), a 7" flat planel color viewing monitor, AND a handheld color video monitor that we can carry around with us! What really sold us was the additional handheld monitor since a large part of what we do includes going downstairs while Kaylani is sleeping in her room upstairs.

It's been 2 days since we've installed the system, and it's pretty much the greatest thing ever. Not only does it allow us to check on her while she's sleeping to make sure that she's actually sleeping and okay, but it also allows us to stare at her while she's sleeping! I have to admit that for the past 2 days, I've turned on the handheld monitor downstairs before I leave for work just so I can take a quick peek at her in the mornings (Mommy used to yell at me if I tried to sneak into her room because I could have woken her up).

But there are some downsides to having a video monitor. For starters, it also means that in addition to hearing her cry herself to sleep, you also end up watching her cry herself to sleep, and she just looks so sad and lonely. Plus, since it's in a night vision greenish and black and white tone, it looks even more sad and lonely. Also, we've now started to wonder if she actually sleeps as long as we think she did. On a few occasions, Mommy has looked at the monitor to find Kaylani moving around silently. Sure she's quiet, but she's clearly not asleep.

All in all I'd say we're pretty happy with our purchase. Sure I wish we didn't have to dish out $254 for the monitor (after coupons), but early reviews show that it was well worth the money. And what Daddy is secretly hoping for is that Kaylani will remember the day we installed the video camera in the corner of her room and take that with her as she grows older. Because the moral of the story is that you can't get anything by Daddy. That is unless you have Mommy's help. Sigh.

So while we stare at the monitor and wait for Kaylani to stop crying and fall asleep, you can stare at pictures from the last couple of days which include Kaylani's newest playmates, Aadi and Aidan who came over to visit today!

Monday, February 16, 2009

The Daddy Diaries - Post #100!

Today is the 100th post on The Daddy Diaries and it comes on Kaylani's 101st day that she's been with us (outside of the womb at least). Unfortunately it didn't coincide with her 100th day which would have been pretty cool, but I've missed 3 posting days since she was born (but had 2 pre-natal posts if you're wondering how I'm only one day off). Anyways, let's kick off this special Daddy blogging day, and the first day of Kaylani's 2nd century of days.

About a week ago, I made a slight change to The Daddy Diaries that may have been unnoticeable to most. Besides the picture slideshow that is now on the right hand side, it allowed for better archiving of all my posts. I originally clicked around past posts of mine just to see how it worked, but I found myself reading each one with new enthusiasm. At that point, it had only been 3 months since I started blogging, but as I read post after post, I realized how much I had forgotten, and just how glad I was to have posted as diligently as I have.

I re-read the first post I ever did, the one where I wasn't even officially a Dad yet. And as I read it, I remembered anxiously waiting for the day we would finally meet Kaylani, and all the fear and joy of those final days. Were we ready? Was I going to be a good Dad? Was she even going to like me? And what will she look like? Then I read a few more posts, including the one I wrote in the hospital at 5:30 in the morning just hours after she was born. I was a Dad, and the proudest Dad anyone could be. The next few days in the hospital were unbelievable, and mostly spent staring at Kaylani and actually saying "We made you!"

Then we went home, and that's when we had our first poop incident, and man was it a good one. My first day back to work and trying to focus on producing a quality work product instead of wishing I was back home holding my brand new baby girl. Then, the normal Holiday crunch came in, with Thanksgiving, then Christmas, then our first plane ride and trip to Orlando.

Before I knew it, I was all caught up and had read every single post and relived every single moment that I've shared. Each post spun off different memories in my own head, ones that never quite made it into the blog but still were clear as day to me. And all of this made me remember why I do what I do.

I do my best to write every single day so that I can remember every single day that goes by. I don't even need to write about what we did each day because whatever the topic of the day is brings back it's own memories. This blog has made me feel closer to my daughter, and closer to Mommy, and closer to myself. I read back on 3 months worth of posts and was taken aback by how much had happened. I can only imagine what it will be like when Kaylani (and Mommy and Daddy) are much older and we read back on all of these same stories that I'm writing right now. It's been an amazing journey to live, and I think it'll be just as amazing to relive it in the future.

And of course, I write this blog so that I can share my life with my family, my friends, and maybe even complete strangers. I hope you all find it entertaining to read because I certainly have been entertained writing it. But most importantly, I write this blog so that someday I can share it with Kaylani. Maybe then she'll realize just how much she means to me, because I'll never be able to get it into words, no matter how hard I try.

Sunday, February 15, 2009

It's about sacrifice

Having a baby is about sacrifice. It changes your life, no doubt about it. And no matter how bad you wanted a baby, once you have one, you're going to have to sacrifice something. But it's not the bad type of sacrifice. It's a good sacrifice. Actually, it makes everything so worth it that it doesn't even seem like you're sacrificing anything.

Our lives actually haven't changed that much from before we had Kaylani. For the past few years we've slowly morphed away from the bars, the nightlife, and even going out for dinner on a regular basis. We were always willing to stay in and have a quiet night in front of the TV or cook a dinner just for the two of us and sit and talk at home. Heck, we might even go out more WITH Kaylani! But overall, not much sacrifice there.

Up until yesterday, TV was probably the biggest sacrifice. Kaylani LOVES to watch TV, but since she's not supposed to, Mommy hardly even turns it on during the day, and Mommy and Daddy try to wait until after Kaylani's asleep before we watch our shows. So as minor as that seems, it's one of a few sacrifices that we've been willing to make for her.

But yesterday, Daddy made a big sacrifice without even thinking twice about it. Yesterday, we converted Daddy's office into a playroom. It just made the most sense since it was on the main floor and near us. Our original plan was to finish the basement and turn that into a playroom (and bar area), but the basement wasn't nearly as convenient as Daddy's office. So Daddy sacrificed his office for his little girl. One of many more sacrifices to come I'm sure.

The office didn't disappear totally. It actually got moved into one of the upstairs guest rooms, but it's no longer a segregated space with an office feel to it. Now it's a bedroom with an office feel to it. But in actuality, the playroom downstairs looks great and I'm glad we have it. It also cleared up our family room a bit since we could move most of her toys into her new playroom. So all in all, it was a big sacrifice with an even bigger payout. Oh, and the other sacrifice was that Daddy spent Valentine's Day moving everything around, but that's just how it goes when you have a baby. "Free time" doesn't really exist anymore. Yet another sacrifice.

We attended Mia and Sofie's baptism today (and they did great!), which ties in pretty nicely to my sacrifice theme I've got going. After all, Christ sacrificed himself for all of us, and that was the ultimate sacrifice. Kinda makes giving up my office not seem like that big of a deal. And I guess it's not a big deal. Well, to me it's not a big deal. To Kaylani, I'm sure it's a huge deal, and that's all the reason I need.

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Our First Valentine's Day


I've never been a huge fan of Valentine's Day. For me, it's just a marketing ploy to get couples to spend more on each other (and by couples, I mean guys, and by each other, I mean on their siginificant other). But just because I'm not a huge fan of it doesn't mean that I don't participate in it. I'm the guy who goes a bit overboard with the chocolate and the flowers, and usually some sort of overpriced gift and a cutesy message. This year, was something different though.

I still bought a lot of chocolate, and flowers, and had a cutesy message, but I didn't have a gift to go on top of all of that. It wasn't that I didn't want to buy a gift (I always have a few ideas in my head), but I just haven't had time lately to run out and get one. Well, I guess I did have time, but it was more that I didn't want to because running out to get a gift by myself meant less time I get to spend with Kaylani. And when it really comes down to it, any gift that I got would have been no match for the gift of having Kaylani with us this Valentine's Day. Although Mommy did get me a gift that was the best of both worlds, since they were pictures of Kaylani that I can bring to my office.

Valentine's Day with Kaylani made this the best Valentine's Day ever (Mommy agrees). We weren't big Valentine's Day planners anyways because it was always too expensive and crowded, so being able to stay in and having a legitimate "excuse" was perfect for us. We did get out for a little bit to visit Danika (and by visit, I mean steal more of Sloan and Darby's "retired" toys), and then had a productive day back home that I'll talk about tomorrow. And we actually ended up having our own little romantic dinner (Creamy walnut penne with chicken made by Daddy) that Kaylani conveniently napped through. And after Kaylani goes to sleep, we'll have delicious cheesecake made specially by Mommy.

Today may have been a holiday (more specifically a marketing holiday) around the world, but to us, it was just another great day that we got to spend with Kaylani. We celebrated the day of love by sharing our love with one another, but in all honesty, it wasn't too different from every other day we spend together. Well, except for the flowers, the chocolate, and the fact that Daddy cooked and Mommy baked (since Mommy usually cooks and Daddy usually bakes and there aren't normally flowers and chocolate around).

Anyways, it's another first for Kaylani that has now come to an end. Tomorrow brings on more adventures, but until then, it's time to put Kaylani to bed. Hopefully she'll sleep for 9+ hours since she had a nice bath and looks really tired just like she did 2 days ago when she slept for 9.5 hours, but only time will tell. But either way, here are pictures from the last 3 days, including of course pictures of her cute Valentine's Day outfit. Her onesie says "Will You Be Mine?", and I only wish I had one that says "You bet your cute little butt I will!" so that we would match. Maybe next year.

Friday, February 13, 2009

Stop that noise!

There's no possible way we could ever call Kaylani noisy. She cries quietly, she talks quietly, and she even farts quietly (too much information?). But she's learned to make a certain noise that drives Mommy and Daddy crazy. It's not loud, and it's not screechy, but it's worse. It's this odd gasping noise that always makes us think that she's having a hard time breathing, and we wish she would stop!

The first few times, we really thought she was struggling, and that we were doing something wrong. It was actually quite comparable to the noise she would make when she was choking on the Poly-vi-sol before we gave her Tri-vi-sol as described here. But now we think it's actually just a noise she picked up from somewhere and just likes to repeat it. Half the time she makes it, she's actually smiling or trying to laugh. So it's almost like this is a silent squeal of joy that sounds more like a painful gasp for air.

The other noises she makes are downright adorable. She can squeal, or giggle, or talk, or laugh (we're dying to hear her laugh again!). She can do anything she wants, as long as it's not make this gasping noise! We're not quite sure how to tell a 3 month old not to do something, but I'm pretty sure this is only going to get harder as she gets older. Can't wait until she starts repeating everything we say. Can't wait until she starts repeating everything we say. But until then, let's just hope this noise turns into something cuter. But until then, let's just hope this noise turns into something cuter.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Peek-a-boo!

"Where's Kaylani? There she is!" Repeat that 10-20 times and chances are that you just played Peek-a-boo with Kaylani. If you repeated that 10-20 times and didn't, well then I think you should seek help. Now it's possible that Mommy and Daddy should seek help for other things, but we do play peek-a-boo with Kaylani quite a bit because she loves it, and it's the funniest thing to see.

I find myself always wondering what goes through her head whenever we play peek-a-boo. First of all, can she even understand us when we say "Where's Kaylani?" And if she does, is she thinking to herself, "I'm right here dummy!" Or does she really think that we have no idea where she is? The more appropriate thing to say would be "Where's Daddy?" or "Where's Mommy?", but oddly enough, we don't get the same reaction out of her when we do that. Maybe she really doesn't know where Mommy or Daddy disappear to, which would validate the "I'm right here dummy!" thoughts when we say "Where's Kaylani?"

In any case, it never gets old for her. Well, I guess it does since she cries out when she's had enough, but if you give it a few minutes, she'll play again. And it's not like she just tolerates it, she actually likes it most of the time. You can tell she likes it by the way she smiles. It's not just a normal smile, but it's a curl into a ball, hands covering the face type of smile. It's the cutest thing ever and is completely worth saying "Where's Kaylani? There she is!" 10-20 times in a row.

And to prove it to you, here's a video of her playing peek-a-boo with Daddy. It looks like an odd setup with the two pillows, but the one on the side was to keep her from looking around too much. For me, this was really funny to see because I've never been able to see what she does when she's "hiding!" So enjoy the video, and for anyone who hasn't seen it yet, also check out the video of Kaylani showing off her Latin dance skills with Uncle Tommy (or was that the other way around?) Either way, enjoy!

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Let Her Be


For the last 3 months we babied our baby. Sounds kinda like an obvious thing to do to a baby, but we over did it when it came to bedtime. Our typical routine would be to nurse her, and then bounce her, sway her, or whatever her so she would almost fall deep asleep in our arms. And then at the last minute (sometimes after the last minute when she was really fussy), we would put her in her crib and hold her there until we were confident she was asleep before we snuck out.

On good nights, she would be so sleepy after nursing that she would go happily into her crib and fall asleep after a quick bounce or two. On bad nights, we would bounce and sway her for up to an hour (alternating turns of course). The unpredictability that bedtime brought, as well as the uncomfortableness on bad nights, led us to try "sleep training" now that Kaylani is 3 months old. And we figured if she could learn to roll over, she could learn to sleep on her own.

There are many different methods of sleep training, and after reading through a few of them, we decided on the "gradually leaving" technique. The premise of this technique is to put her down (you're small!) right away, say goodnight, and then leave the room without picking her up or doing anything. On the first night, if she's still crying after 5 minutes, go back in, calm her down without picking her up, say goodnight, and then leave the room again. After 5 to 10 more minutes, do the same thing. Then, you increase the time by 5 minutes every day. It also says that this technique could take awhile to work, but we gave it a shot anyways.

So last night, Mommy put her down (you smell like a baby!), said goodnight, and left the room. After 5 painful minutes of hearing his little girl cry (not a full out cry, but more like a whine/whimper), Daddy went in, put a reassuring hand on her chest, kissed her on the forehead, said goodnight, then left. The next 5 minutes were even more painful then the first. I sat on the edge of my bed staring towards her room, and listened to her while trying to restrain myself from going in there to pick her up. It was tough, but I sat there on that bed for 6 whole minutes (Mommy joined me halfway through).

After 6 minutes, there was silence. Another minute went by and there was a trace of a whimper, but not a strong one. Few more minutes went by and there was nothing. Only the sounds of Daddy and Mommy sitting on the edge of the bed breathing quietly together could be heard. 10 minutes had passed since Daddy last went in there and there was only silence coming from Kaylani's room. Hooray!

Of course, the first thing Daddy wanted to do was go in and check on her to make sure everything was alright, but he didn't out of fear that maybe she was awake and staring at the door wondering why her parents had abandoned her. Mommy did take a peek in her room an hour later, and she was sleeping. She didn't even look like she was sad, so that was a relief. I completely expected her to be asleep with a big ol' frown on her face. Luckily, that was not the case.

So that was "sleep training" day 1. Tonight will be day 2, although Mommy tried it this afternoon with successful results again at nap time, so maybe this won't be as bad as we thought. Well it's about time for us to give it a try, so while she's sleeping (or staring at the door wondering why her parents abandoned her), you can look at a few pictures from the last 3 days. Or, even better, you can check out this video of Kaylani rolling over! Mommy got it on tape today and Daddy even got to see it live! For us though, it's now time to just let her be.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Roll it!

This morning Kaylani rolled over (tummy to back) for the very first time! It happened while Mommy was at her "Mommy and Me" exercise class and it brought tears to her eyes when she saw this milestone occurring in front of her. Everyone in the class applauded and then watched as Kaylani did it four more times on her own! I only wish I could have been there.

Sadly, Daddy was in NYC for work today, so he didn't get to see Kaylani's first ever tummy to back rollover. The NYC part is irrelevant because I could have been in the office, or even at home, and I still wouldn't have seen it. But that's okay because I was just happy to hear that Kaylani rolled over. That means his little girl is developing her muscles and coordination just fine, and that's what is really important!

Being able to watch Kaylani roll over would have been pretty cool. Mommy, knowing that Daddy would be a little sad and that he would want to see it, tried to get Kaylani to repeat her performance when they got home. The video camera was all set, her rolling area ready, and everything was primed for Kaylani to roll over for the history books (or at least our video library). But just like a few nights ago with our attempt to record Kaylani laughing, she got stage fright.

I'm starting to get convinced that she knows she's being videotaped. After I got home today, we tried again to watch her roll over, and of course tried to videotape it so we could share it with the world. But after 30 minutes of recorded tummy time, Kaylani was still on her tummy. She came close a few times, and even propped herself up on her arms and looked at the video camera, but no roll over. The show would not go on. Not tonight at least.

So Daddy still hasn't seen Kaylani roll over, but listening to Mommy describe it is good enough to hold me over for a few more days. Hopefully she'll do it one of these days for Daddy to see with his own eyes, but there's no rush. After all, once she can roll over, she moves into the first phase of mobility. And a mobile baby will change life as we know it pretty significantly. Or so I've heard.

Monday, February 9, 2009

All Bottled Up

I don't think Kaylani keeps her feelings to herself. She definitely makes everyone around aware when something is bothering her, so I guess I wouldn't say that she's all bottled up emotionally. But when it comes to taking a bottle, she's definitely all bottled up, and not in a good way. Unlike Daddy, she wants no part of a bottle when it comes her way, and unfortunately, that's not a good thing for us.

For the first 6 weeks, Kaylani took a bottle without a problem. She even switched back and forth from nursing to bottle feeding no matter when it was and this was great for 2 reasons. First of all, Daddy got to share the burden of feeding (during the day, but more importantly in the middle of the night) with Mommy. It actually sounds like it would be a hassle for Daddy, but I loved it because it was time I got to spend with my little girl. And also, it lead to the second reason why bottle feeding was great, which was that Mommy got to take a little breather.

Once Kaylani got on a more normal sleep schedule, I would wake up with Kaylani in the morning sometime between 6 and 7am. Then, I'd kick off my day by feeding her and putting her back to sleep before getting ready for work. That was enough to get me off to a great start to my day with some quality time with Kaylani and let Mommy sleep for just a few more hours after a couple of night shifts. But for the last 8 weeks, that hasn't happened, and tonight, we took action. We bought a new bottle with a new nipple (Playtex NaturaLatch) that was supposed to be closer to breastfeeding, and gave it a shot. Sadly, we misfired.

Kaylani wanted nothing to do with the bottle, just like 8 weeks ago when we last tried. Actually, that's not true. Last time she screamed at the top of her lungs at the thought of it. This time, she played with the bottle for a little bit, took some milk and spit it out down her neck, then cried until we took the bottle away. We tried this for about 20 minutes to see if she would adjust, and she did maybe a little bit, but not enough where we could say she actually took the bottle.

So unfortunately, Kaylani is not back on the bottle yet. Daddy's not either yet because of the diet so maybe we can have a little competition to see who takes a bottle first. I'm really hoping Kaylani wins, and I hope she wins soon. After all, a bottle means I get my quality time back, and more importantly, it means Mommy can take a breather again. And maybe, just maybe, it also means that Mommy and Daddy could take a breather together while someone babysits for a few hours. Now that's what I call motivation!

Sunday, February 8, 2009

She ages pretty well


Today is Kaylani's 3 month birthday and we enjoyed every bit of it, from the second she woke up to the second she fell asleep, and everything in between too. The day started off so routinely, with Mommy and Daddy sleeping in until it was time to get ready for Church. But since Daddy doesn't get to see Kaylani wake up very often, he thought he would take it all in.

Part of me wonders if Kaylani knows that today is her 3 month birthday. She woke up with a giant smile on her face, even with Daddy taking pictures of her while she was waking up. Some may think that flash photography while she's sleeping may be a little bit mean, but it was 9am already and we had to make it to mass by 9:30am, so it was okay. Not only did she wake up in time for us to get to Church fairly on time (5 minutes late), but I did get to capture her first smile of the day.

The middle of the day was great too and Kaylani got to spend time with her friend Mia at her house. Mia's parents, Harold and Steph, even made a delicious brunch for all of us which Kaylani seemed to enjoy (several hours later when it passed through Mommy's milk of course). After a quick nap in Mia's swing (which Mia didn't seem too happy to be sharing), it was off to run a few errands then home for the night.

Tonight, we got the best present ever FROM Kaylani. We were just about to head in for bath time and we heard the cutest little laugh come out of our baby girl's mouth. We've heard her give a giggle before, maybe a single laugh, but never quite like this. She laughed for about 5 minutes and was so cute that it brought tears to Mommy's eyes. Before either Mommy or Daddy could compose themselves enough to grab the video camera, Kaylani decided the show was over. But even though we don't have it recorded on tape, it's in our memories forever and is the best gift she could have given us today.

So today was pretty great, just like every day we've had over the past 3 months. But now, it's time to start the next 3 months (I find it easier to look at Kaylani's life in 3 month increments so I don't have to think about her toddler or teenager years). For tonight, here are pictures from the last 3 days. They're split into 2 albums so make sure you look at them both!

Oh, and for those of you who happened to notice, I did make a slight change to the look and feel of The Daddy Diaries. The only way you may be affected is if you had a RSS feed going (like iGoogle). That address has changed, so use the link on the right to update. Thanks and keep reading!

Saturday, February 7, 2009

I'm a failure...a big FAT one

I made a visit to the doctor today for the first time since Kaylani was born. I went for a follow up, and the outcome was that I'm fat. Okay, maybe that's not exactly how my doctor explained it to me, but that was the message she was trying to get across. And I can't really argue with her. When Kaylani was first born, I lost 4lbs right away. People still called me fat, but I thought that was because I was next to a tiny 7lb baby so she made me look fat. But now, I'm actually fat, or at least I've had a professional opinion to tell me so.

I'm not ashamed of my weight, so I'll talk about it. I weighed in at 189lbs today, but I think that was over-reported. After all, I did have jeans, a long sleeve shirt, and my shoes on. All that combined probably weighs like 10lbs, so really I'm only 179lbs. Alright, maybe I don't wear clothing or shoes made of lead, so I guess I am a bit fat. And, I happen to have hypertension, and my last cholesterol test came back a bit high as well, so fine, I'll accept the fact that I'm fat. But for the first time in my life, I'm going to willingly do something about it on my own.

My doctor told me I need to lose 10-20% of my body weight, and she wants me to lose 10% in a month. To help you out with the math, I need to lose 19lbs in 1 month, and then another 19lbs after that. If/when I lose all 38lbs, I'll weigh in at 151lbs, which would be less then I did before I went to college. Oh, and did I mention that my doctor is crazy and also that she's Jillian from The Biggest Loser? Just kidding...kinda.

Anyways, so the goal is 19lbs in 1 month. I haven't lost 19lbs since I made a weight loss bet at work last year (and won), but that was different. I had motivation, and that motivation came in the form of $100 (and a subsequent bet where I could have won $750 had my other 2 competitors not lost their target weight). This time, my motivation is different. My motivation is my little girl, who deserves to have a dad who can live a long and healthy life along side with her. And then there's my wife, who also deserves to have a husband and a partner to be by her side as we grow old together (she was with me last year too, but $100 turned out to be a better motivator at the time...as bad as that sounds).

So I've got a lot of motivation and I'm going to lose 19lbs in a month. And after that, I'm going to buy Guitar Hero World Tour because that's what Mommy and Daddy decided would be an extra motivator this month (I may have failed to mention that before). But after that, I'm going to lose another 19lbs somehow. And after that, I'm going to go buy all new clothing since everything I have will be way too big on me.

So stay tuned and I'll let you know how it goes. Anyone want to join me? Just think of something you want but haven't bought or done yet, and make that your motivation. If it's a loved one, a friend, or something you want to splurge on, just do it. Because whatever the actual motivating factor is, the long term effects will be well worth it. I'm sure Kaylani and Mommy will think so.

Friday, February 6, 2009

Soaking it all in

This post is not about poop, even though "soaking it all in" would be a great title for a poop story. What it is about is how unbelieveably interested in everything Kaylani is, especially people. Maybe she'll grow up to be a people watcher, or maybe she'll put attention to detail as a strength on her resume some day. Or maybe it means nothing since she's not even 3 months old yet, and it just means that she's soaking it all in.

I've always known that Kaylani was a starer. She stares at everything, even if there's nothing there. Sometimes it's the plain colored wall, or the ceiling, or just the floor. There are times where I think she stares at something just to see if I'll try and look with her. And if she could talk, I bet she'd say "haha, made you look!" But she can't talk, and she doesn't stop staring at whatever it is she stares at, so she must just be a starer.

Today, Daddy met Mommy and Kaylani at Panera Bread for lunch. It was there that I came up with the idea for this post. Panera at lunch is a busy place, so Kaylani had more then enough to stare at. And without fail, every time someone or something would go by, she would twist her head around to see what it was. Half the time it was a person walking by quickly and Kaylani may have reacted to late. The other half of the time someone would walk by and slow down to smile at her. Kaylani, given the opportunity to interact, would smile back. And the other half of the time, she would just stare at the people sitting around us.

It was kinda fun to try and follow her eyes. They would bounce around from person to person, table to table, and then try track the person walking by, and then go right back to the people around us. I really hope she is just soaking it all in, because the other possibility is that she's presentada (which is Spanish for nosy). There's a fine line between people watcher, attention to detail, and nosy, but at 3 months, I'm declaring it too early to define where exactly that line is drawn. For now, I'm just going to be glad that her brain is soaking it all in, and hope that her diaper does the same thing.

Thursday, February 5, 2009

25 Random Things About Kaylani

For all of you on Facebook, you've probably seen the "25 Random Things" note going around. So, since I've been "tagged" 4 times within Facebook, but really don't feel like I want to write 25 random things about myself and then send it to 25 people on Facebook, I'm going to do it here. But instead of doing it about me, it's going to be about Kaylani. So, love it or hate it on Facebook, here are 25 random things about Kaylani:

1. She pooped 10 times in the first 2 days at the hospital when she was born, but then not again until she was 5 days old
2. She likes to move her legs...a lot
3. She hates tummy time, but has a really strong neck
4. She won't fall asleep unless you bounce her, sway her, rock her, or do something else that makes your body sore
5. If she was a boy, there's a strong possibility that we wouldn't have agreed on a name yet and she would still be called Baby Boy Tam
6. She has 2 big dark spots on her butt that the pediatrician tells us are normal (called Mongolian Spots apparently)
7. She likes to smile right before falling asleep, either because she's happy, or because she has gas
8. She either smiles a lot, or has gas a lot
9. She loves eating her hands, or anything else near her mouth
10. She can't sit up yet, but sure likes to try
11. She may grow up thinking that everyone makes funny noises all the time since that's what Mommy and Daddy do
12. Her hair gets really greasy every 2 to 3 days and needs to be washed frequently
13. She likes to cover her neck in drool
14. She HATES hats even though she has at least 10 of them
15. She LOVES baths, which is good because she needs them a lot
16. She is going to hate all the things Mommy and Daddy have to done to her just for pictures
17. She'll twist her neck really far in order to try and watch TV with us
18. She doesn't mind going to strangers, which is both a good thing and a bad thing
19. Daddy has the song for the Daddy-Daughter dance at her wedding picked out already ("I Loved Her First" by Heartland...and yes, Daddy listens to Country music)
20. She's going to be a handful when she's older
21. She'll usually smile if you tickle her chin
22. She has Daddy's head, which we still hope she'll grow into
23. She has the cutest pouty face ever, but hasn't held it long enough for Daddy to take a picture of yet
24. She makes Mommy cry tears of joy just by smiling at her sometimes
25. She'll always be Daddy's little girl, no matter what she does

So there you have it. 25 random things about Kaylani. She's 3 days away from her 3 month birthday, so maybe in another 3 months, we'll see how many of these things still hold true. But before we get too far ahead of ourselves, here are 25 random pictures from the last 2 days to keep up with our theme of 25 for the night. Enjoy!

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

No Sleep Makes Daddy Something Something

No sleep makes Daddy something something. Go Crazy? Don't mind if I do! Sorry, that was a Simpsons reference for those of you non-fans. But seriously, no sleep does make Daddy go a little bit crazy. It also makes Mommy go a lot bit crazy. And to be fair, it's not like we're getting "no" sleep, it's just that we're getting less sleep. More Mommy than Daddy, but still, less sleep all around. And less sleep (or "no" sleep), does make us just a bit crazy.

Well, it doesn't make us crazy necessarily but it does make us very much blah (again, more Mommy than Daddy). For the second straight night, Kaylani woke up every 2 hours and wanted to cry, to be held, to nurse, or just to fuss about for an hour before she would fall back asleep for more than 10 minutes. So for the second straight night, Daddy turned off his alarm 30 minutes early to try and help out at 6am. That's why Daddy was a bit blah today. Well, that and the fact that he had to shovel snow again this morning manually because he still hasn't opened his snowthrower. Mommy was a lot blah because Mommy was the one who got up with Kaylani at 11, at 2, and at 5. And Mommy was the one who had to nurse Kaylani each time.

We really shouldn't be complaining because we did get 12 weeks of good sleep from Kaylani, and that's a lot more than most people with babies that I've talked to. And we also shouldn't complain because she usually stops crying as long as one of us is near her, so at least she doesn't cry for more than 5-10 minutes at a time. So don't consider this a complaint. Consider it more of a rant, or maybe just a blog post. Ah yes, a blog post. I'm not complaining...I'm blogging.

Anyways, we're hoping Kaylani snaps out of it tonight, and today, she did show signs that it was a possibility. She napped well, she played well, she even let Mommy and Daddy enjoy dinner at their favorite restaurant, Sotto, and didn't cry until we were about to leave. She also took a bath when we got home (with clear, not brown, water) and was calm the whole time. So hopefully, when she's done nursing in about 2 minutes, she'll sleep for way more than 2 minutes or even 2 hours. If she gets back to 6-7 hours of sleep, then she would make Daddy something something, and this time something something would not be the same as "go crazy!"

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Growing Pains


Kaylani is going through her own episode of Growing Pains (and I don't mean she's talking to Mike Seaver or his idiot friend Boner). At least, that's what we think she's going through. She's almost 3 months old (would actually be 3 months old today if she came out on time), and from everything I've read, she's going through another growth spurt.

Our initial thought was actually that she was teething, but 3 months is REAL early to be teething since a first tooth typically comes in the 6 to 9 month range. You can't blame us for thinking it was teething since she drools more than Daddy (who drools like a leaky faucet), she constantly chews on her hand (or her arm, or our fingers, or our arms), and she had a low grade fever a few days ago (anything under 101 degrees). She's also been fussy, not eating well, and not sleeping the 6-8 hours that we've grown accustomed to. But upon further research, it's probably not teething.

What it does seem to be is just another growth spurt. Signs of a growth spurt are being hungrier (which she is since she cries for Mommy to nurse her every 2 hours or so instead of a little bit longer), being fussier (which means she cries if she's not being held constantly), and sleeping a bit more (she's not sleeping as soundly, but I guess she's sleeping more). And, the main reason we think it's a growth spurt is because all of our books and websites say that it happens at 3 months.

Now, don't get us wrong, we want her to go through growth spurts (well sometimes Mommy doesn't because she's getting too big too fast, but that's besides the point). The problem with this latest growth spurt is that Kaylani has completely spoiled us over the last 3 months. We've all slept so well that having to wake up every 2-3 hours is painful. It's like we're back in the hospital those first few days. Okay, it's not THAT bad, but it's much worse then sleeping for an average of 6 hours every night.

Another downside to this latest growth spurt is that she was really fussy all day today. Normally that's bad enough when it's just Mommy, but since Yin Yin was here, it was even worse. Yin Yin being home with Mommy was supposed to be a win win for everyone, but it turned out to be a cry cry. Mommy, who was up most of the night with Kaylani, didn't get to rest during the day because Kaylani wanted Mommy and only Mommy. She didn't want Daddy's Mommy, which was sad since Daddy's Mommy wanted Kaylani's Mommy to rest so she could be a good Grandmommy and take care of Kaylani while Kaylani's Mommy rested. Phew...got all that?

Anyways, we're hoping that the growth spurt wraps up soon and Kaylani gets back to her regularly scheduled routine. Actually, it will be a slightly different routine since tonight marks the first night that she's going sleep completely unswaddled. She won't even have a blanket, but instead is all tucked into a one piece sleep sack. You can see pictures of it tonight, but only a few since it was bedtime and not picture time. And we're about to find out what type of night it is since Kaylani's done nursing for now. We sure hope that a sleep sack is every bit as comforting as an old fashioned swaddle. The only thing we're sure of at this point is that it was a whole lot easier to get her into it, and a whole lot harder for her to get out of it. For now at least.

Monday, February 2, 2009

Bathing Doody

Sleeping Beauty is a cute fairy tale. It's one that I'm sure Kaylani will enjoy as she gets older and acts like (and is treated like) a Princess. Bathing Doody, however, is something drastically different, but something that Kaylani could be now. And the only relationship between Sleeping Beauty and Bathing Doody is that they are both stories that Daddy was told. Warning: Like Sleeping Beauty, Bathing Doody is a long story.

It's been 4 days since Kaylani had a bath, and she desperately needed one. We bathed her Thursday night before heading to Boston, with the intent of bathing her after the Super Bowl when we got home on Sunday. To make sure that we knew she needed a bath, Kaylani thought she'd help stress the bath point by spitting up on herself whenever she could over the last 4 days. And it wasn't just the "cute" spit up where a little bit drips out of her mouth and we wipe it up. They were the big spit ups where it either was a projectile spit up all over herself, or even worse, the kind that went straight for her neck.

So Sunday night, turned out to be a non-bath night just because of the car ride, the Super Bowl, the lack of sleep, and everything else. Normally we would have just waited the extra night and bathed her tonight, but that's not what happened. Since Daddy's friend Steph was coming to visit (thanks for coming Steph!), Mommy thought she would make Kaylani presentable (read: not smelly) and bathe her all by herself during the day while Daddy was at work. It was very nice of Mommy to do so I thought, but it's undecided if the outcome was worth it.

Daddy called home around 5pm to see how Mommy and Kaylani were doing. Mommy didn't answer the house phone, but called right back from her cell. I innocently asked, "How are you? How's Kaylani?" And this is what I got back:

Mommy: You remember how you wondered what would happen if Kaylani pooped in the tub?
Daddy: Ummm...yes? (I said it like a question, but I remembered quite clearly since I blogged about it a few months back)
Mommy: Yeah, well I'll tell you all about it when you get home
Daddy: You bathed her by yourself?
Mommy: Yeah...she smelled funny and Steph is coming over so I thought I should bathe her. I was wrong
Daddy: So what happened?
Mommy: I'm kinda still dealing with this right now so I'll tell you when you get home.

And then she hung up. Of course, my curiosity got the best of me so I quickly wrapped up what I was doing and headed home. It was around 5:45 when I got home and I found Mommy in the kitchen putting the finishing touches on dinner (which was delicious despite the day's events) and Kaylani under her musical light up piano. I went over to Mommy and gave her a kiss, then to Kaylani and gave her a kiss (and received a beautiful smile in return). I counted to 5, and then not being able to contain myself anymore, asked Mommy what happened.

Mommy: Okay, so I was giving her a bath, and she was liking it. But do you remember last bath time how she was pushing her stomach real hard while we were bathing her?
Daddy: Yep, and we thought she was going to push poop out?
Mommy: Yeah, well today she did. She was pushing her stomach so hard and I was saying, Kaylani, relax! Just enjoy your bath! Then all of a sudden she went "uhhhhhh" and everything went brown
Daddy: She pooped? Just like that?
Mommy: Yeah, the clear water turned brown all of a sudden. Oh, and the tub was pretty full by the way, so she was literally bathing in her own poop
Daddy: So what'd you do??
Mommy: I panicked, so I picked her up real quick. Of course she wasn't done, so she pooped down her leg and into the bath some more.
Daddy: Ewwww! How'd you clean her up?
Mommy: I held her in my arm by the sink and splashed water on her and rinsed her off. Then I had to put her wrapped up in her towel on the floor so I could dump the bath tub out in our tub
Daddy: You dumped the poop in our jacuzzi tub??
Mommy: Don't even start with me. Yes, I dumped it in the tub. Then I ran a LOT of hot water over it and a LOT of soap...
Daddy: What soap? Don't tell me you used the Burt's Bees...
Mommy: Yep, that one
Daddy: What are we rich??
Mommy: Don't start. So after that, I picked her up off the floor, poor baby, and finished bathing her in the tub

And that concludes the story of Bathing Doody. I can't say I wish I was there, but in a way, I really do wish I was there. Not sure I would have done anything different, so Mommy did a great job handling on her own. And Steph, if you're reading this, hope you liked smelling Kaylani, because this all happened because of you!

Sunday, February 1, 2009

A Chinese New Year to Remember


Our weekend in Boston concluded with a Chinese New Year celebration at Saint James Church in Chinatown. We've gone to this celebration a few times over the last few years, but this was the first one we've been to since we were married and obviously the first since we've had Kaylani. Like all things that we've done with and without Kaylani, it was different, but in a good way.

Not only did Kaylani get to wear a gorgeous red Chinese dress that Yin Yin bought her, but she also got a little bit richer. As part of Chinese New Year, single people (mainly kids) get to go around to any married couple and say "Kung Hay Fat Choi", and in return, they receive a "lai-see", or lucky red envelope filled with money. Since this was our first celebration while being married, we were all of a sudden on the giving end instead of the receiving. But, Kaylani was on the receiving end, so all in all, we made out pretty well. Okay, "we" did not make out well, but Kaylani sure did. If I was more concerned about "recouping my losses", I could have taken some from Kaylani's stash, but we're also pretty good about making sure Kaylani's money is her money.

Unfortunately we missed the lion dance (or scary lion dance as Cousin Connor called it), and the martial arts display because Kaylani had to nurse, but we did get to see some funny speeches that involved white people speaking in Chinese, and some good authentic Chinese food. And of course, we got some good quality family time in there as well before we had to make the drive home.

The drive home ranked 2nd best in terms of time (5.5 hours), but probably 3rd overall. Again, we pushed Kaylani a bit too far since she had been awake for 5 hours by the time we got in the car, and she cried a few times. The worst part was she woke up for the second time with only 45 minutes left in the trip which meant we were so close but so far. Luckily she nursed quick, pooped quick (and cleanly) and we were back on our way to Rob and Jen's house for some Super Bowl fun (and was only an hour late).

All in all, this Chinese New Year definitely ranks among the top of my Chinese New Year experiences, and that's of course because of the wonderful family I have, from my beautiful daughter and wife all the way to my loving parents, sibling (and sibling in laws), nieces, and nephews. A special thanks to my family for spending the new year with us, and also to Rob and Jen for feeding us after a long drive home (go Steelers!)

And most of all, thanks to Kaylani for being such a great girl and sleeping most of the car ride, not having any blow outs, and for staying asleep in the always tricky car seat to crib transition once we finally got her home tonight. To wrap up the weekend, I'm going to head to bed, but for all of you, don't forget to check out pictures from the last 4 days. Good night!