Weekend Presents

We had such a busy weekend that this is the first chance I'm finally getting to sit down and write a post. While I don't normally like to just write recap posts, there's really no way around it since this weekend was full of things to recap. It all started Friday night when Daddy thought he was getting the first present of the weekend.

I was at Yankee Stadium on Friday night for another game in the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry. I thought that Rob and I could watch the game and get home in decent time so we could wake up early the next day to take our girls to swim class. Of course I also hoped that we would leave the game celebrating a victory (which we did). I just didn't think it would take so long! After 15 innings of baseball, or 5 and a half hours of baseball, the Yankees won giving me the best present of the night. Meanwhile, Kaylani and Mommy were getting their own presents at home.

Madrina Maria, Lulu, and Carmen all came down for the weekend which was the perfect present for both Mommy and Kaylani. While Daddy was "stuck" at The Stadium, the 5 girls were at home (with Jen and Sofie too) hanging out and having a great time. Kaylani went to bed early, but the party kept on going, and ended around 2am, right before Daddy finally made it home from the game.

Bright and early on Saturday morning Kaylani was up. And besides the fact that she had 3 new people in the house with her, it was also her 9 month birthday! Can't believe it's been 9 months already, but we had the best celebration with Kaylani getting all types of presents. It's quite possible that she's getting a little spoiled since she got a handful of presents during a "month birthday", but I'm sure she's okay with it (and so are we)! Then, to top it off, Vanessa and Tom came over too and we partied on for the rest of the night (after Kaylani went to bed again at 8pm).

Sunday meant it was time for a real birthday celebration...Connor's! Connor turned 3 yesterday and today was his big 3 year old birthday party. It was Kaylani's 2nd ever birthday party and she had a great time. Not only did she get to see her cousins Connor and Zoe, and Yin Yin, Yea Yea, Bat Bat, and Auntie Shannon, but she also got her first goodie bag and a present from a friend too! She may have gotten just a little bit cranky towards the end, but when all was said and done, she did great. She took a nice nap on the way home, and now is quietly asleep in her crib, hopefully for another 10 hours like last night.

Overall the weekend was busy, tiring, but great. I hope this week is just the same, especially if you add "quick" to that list. Next weekend we'll be headed to Cape May for a week for vacation. That'll be a great time too, just like everything else we do with Kaylani. And to cap off this weekend, here are some great pictures from the last few days. As for me, I'm headed downstairs to watch the Yankees-Red Sox series finale and get some work done for the week. Happy belated 9 month birthday Kaylani, and 3 year birthday Connor!

Learning from the past

Something about Kaylani was a little off last night and today. Last night, she nursed for a real long time before bed, slept for 7 straight hours, but then woke up and fell back asleep twice between the hours of 4am and 6am. Then, she was up at 7:30am for good, and didn't nap until around 4pm, no matter how hard Mommy tried. She didn't nap in the swing, in her arms, or even in the car. And when she finally did nap, it was only for 20 minutes.

Normally we'd think Kaylani was just being a pain, but she actually wasn't a pain today according to Mommy. She wasn't whining or crying, and wasn't overly attached to Mommy, but it was just a long day. There were no signs of new teeth coming out, and no fever to think she was getting sick. It wasn't until she ate up 6oz of food at dinner without a problem that we figured it out. Growth spurt. A quick Google search on growth spurts confirmed our suspicions. There is a 9 month growth spurt. And wouldn't you know it, Kaylani's 3 days away from her 9 month birthday.

They say the best way to make it through a growth spurt is to feed her more. That explains why Kaylani nursed for so long last night. It also explains why she polished off 8oz of food tonight (green bean casserole and apples), still had room to take in about 10 puffs, and drank an ounce or so of water all during dinner. It also explains why she woke up randomly through the night, and why she didn't want to nap during the day.

We were waiting for something like this to happen. Unlike the 3 month and 6 month growth spurts that snuck up on us, we knew this day would come at 9 months just based on the fact that things were going a little too well. She was starting to sleep for 10 hours at a time again and she was eating her food without fussing too much. Before we were the extremely experienced parents that we are now, we would think that she would last like that forever. Now, we're just enjoying it before it goes away. And all signs point to it going away soon.

Hopefully this growth spurt goes by quickly and we can get her back to her normal schedule. Some growth spurts only last a few days. Some last a week. Either way, I just hope it's gone in the next 10 days because that's when Daddy's 1 week vacation from work begins, and vacation with a growth spurt baby isn't what I'm looking forward to. So bring it on growth spurt! Now please?

Day 284

To different people, 9 months could be an eternity away, or it could be right around the corner. If you're the type of person who plans a lot (me), then 9 months sneaks up on you. Or if you're the type of person who lives day by day, then 9 months probably isn't even fathomable. But, when you're expecting a child, no matter what type of person you are, 9 months will come up on you and feel like it's right around the corner. Right up until that 9th month that is.

After 40 weeks, 280 short days, "9 months", all things say you should have a little newborn in your hand. Sometimes sooner, sometimes a bit later. But those last 14 days, or in our case, last 18 days (and counting) are LONG. Funny how the first 9 months flew by. I barely even remember what happened 9 months ago ,but I could tell you every single thing I've done in the last 18 days because they all go like this:

-Wake up 2-3 times in the middle of the night to check on Brendalys and make sure there's no signs of labor
-Grab a coffee from Dunkin Donuts
-Go to work and check my cell phone reception every 5 minutes
-Come home and eat dinner
-Twiddle thumbs and wait for baby to come
-Go to sleep
-Lather, rinse, repeat

Well we're on Day 284, and even though it's normal for first-time mom's to be late (even more normal when the mom is Puerto Rican), these days are getting longer. We've tried a few of the "home remedies" that induce labor but let me know if you have some "sure-fire" tactics that will help get this baby out...we'll try anything at this point! Otherwise we're just going to sit around and wait.

Some say I should take advantage of this time because life is about to change. I'd rather life just change now because I have a feeling that it's going to be awesome!