Happy 39th Anniversary, Mom and Dad!

Mom and Dad have been married for 39 years today. They have been through so much over the years, and I am so grateful for the example they have set for me. They have been together in 3 different countries, half a dozen cities at least, a war, and two teenagers. That's some serious business. This year especially I appreciate even more the challenges of life that have to be met in order to get to this point. I hope I am lucky enough to see my 39th anniversary (and more) with Cary. In celebration of their anniversary, guess where we went.....yup, the Grove.
I strapped on my Layla love and walked over to Monsieur Marcel for some lunch on this lovely Saturday.

Shashar and Sheila were there. Ms. Sheila was on the top level of the trolley with Dad when I got there. She was getting over a fever and wasn't her usual energetic self.
Layla was in a good mood for Grandma and Baba. She is so sweet and giggly these days.
Layla was dressed in her Bruin blue for the big USC vs UCLA game that day. Daddy dressed her, of course. A couple people said what a cute boy she was. You can't blame them. I put her blue ballet shoe socks on to give her outfit a feminine touch.

Meeting Great Grandma Dorothy

Today Layla met her Great Grandma Dorothy for the very first time. Great Grandma is 98 years old and the sweetest southern bell. She enjoyed meeting Layla and asked if she could keep her. Later in the night Judy asked her if she remembered Layla's name. Her memory is not very good. But she answered "sure, it's Trixie". I got it on video. Trixie will forever be a nickname of Layla's now.

Yup, went to the Grove again

Kasey, Kaylie, and Tiffany were visting from San Diego. Megan and them met Layla and I at the Grove for lunch. I'm getting the hang of this mommy stuff because I was able to "whip it out" at lunch today to feed Layla. We had a table in the back of the patio area, so I put a blanket out and got to it. Of course, when I pull the blanket back to check on Layla, 3 guys are walking by and I flash them. Megan said they turned back to look, ew. Whatever...

We went to American Girl doll store again and Kasey did a bunch of Christmas shopping for the girls. Again, how cute are these girls! And of course Layla is the only dark haired baby among blonds.

Happy Birthday to me

My first birthday as a mommy. I got the closest thing to a full nights sleep for the first time in 3+ months. I slept about 6 hours, till 4am when Layla woke up. Then I slept some more. Then I took a nap. Then I met Megan and Jenny and the girls at the Grove for lunch (see previous post), then I took another nap. Then Shashar, Jack and Sheila came over with some cake and champagne. By this time, Layla was in full meltdown mode because we spent too much time at the Grove and she didn't get enough beauty sleep. It really zapped me. Any energy I gained from my semi-full night of sleep and two naps was almost completely used up. I almost canceled our plans to go out to dinner, but then mom and dad convinced us to go. So Cary and I went up the street to Terroni. It was our go-to place before the baby. We hadn't been out to dinner one single time since the baby got here.

Grilled artichoke inside of prosciutto. Holy crap that was good.

Pulpo (octopus) with fire roasted tomatoes. Both the octopus and the tomatoes could not have been cooked more perfectly. Tender octopus, great flavor. Tomatoes were juicy, with a hint of smokiness from being roasted for just the right amount of time.

I was enjoying myself so much, I forgot to take pictures of my main course, the tagliatelle with ragu. It's always a winner.

For dessert, scoop of chocolate and a scoop of hazelnut gelato with a nutella biscotti. This was by far the best gelato I've had outside of Italy. The waitress said this guy in the valley makes gelato in his home and only sells it to certain restaurants. It was soooo goooood.

Then we went home, mom and dad were babysitting and Layla had slept the whole time. I only checked in on her once through the whole dinner. Today was a good day.

Another trip to the Grove with the girls

I know, my posts are getting more and more predictable. I only go to the Grove every other day now, sheesh! It works because I can walk and get some exercise and not have to deal with the whole getting Layla into the car issue. Layla and I met Megan, Ashley, Jenny, Hannah, and Sophie at the Grove for some lunch. The mommies treated me to lunch for my birthday. I had to leave and rush to Nordstrom because Layla wasn't happy and I thought I should try to nurse her. I haven't quite figured out how to whip it out in public yet. The big girls went to the American Girl doll store. They are so cute. Then they all met me outside Nordstrom.


I love how Layla is the only dark haired baby among all the blond haired girls. Too much cuteness!!

Happy Birthday, Pappy.

Layla and I met Mom, Dad, and Sheila at the Grove for lunch to celebrate Dad's birthday.
Layla doing a big stretch in her stroller.


Dad's birthday cupcake. Sheila tasted both to make sure it was good enough to for Dad.

Mom and Dad and their two grand daughters.

Layla started getting upset, so it was cousin Sheila to the rescue!

Sheila knows how to keep Layla happy - so cute!

Happy Halloween!

So, I kind of suck. I didn't even get Layla a real costume for Halloween. I just put a pink onesie on, along with a pink tutu that was a hand-me-down from Sheila, I think. I added her ballet slipper socks as the final touch. So I guess she was a ballerina for her first Halloween.
Layla and I went to the Grove (again) to meet Christine and Bubbs.

Christine was nice enough to watch Layla while I ran to the bathroom. Bubbs decided to rearrange the kids shoe section. He's so cute!

I'm getting better at leaving the house with Layla. Especially when I go to the Grove. The Nordstrom has a lounge area where all the moms go to nurse and change diapers. I practically live there.

Breakfast with Jenny and Sophie

I dressed up Layla, and headed to the Grove for breakfast with the adorable Sophie and her mommy Jenny.

Farewell Sleep, my dear companion.

Layla will be 10 weeks old tomorrow. I haven't had a SINGLE night of sleep since before she was born. Of course, before she was born, when I woke up often in the middle of the night to pee or eat, I had the option of going right back to bed, or just sleeping during the day. I have no options like that anymore...


Last night I went to bed at around 10pm, woke up at midnight and changed, fed, and burped Layla. Just when I was about to put her down, she pooped so I changed her again. Then I soothed Layla (because she thought it was play time!) and put her down around 1:20. Then around 3am she woke up again so I fed her, burped her, changed her, then fed her some more (first feeding was small), then changed her again (because 2nd feeding was big and she had a big poop right afterwards). Then I put her down around 4:05. I was reeeeaaally hoping that since her last feeding was big and she got a nice big poop out of the way, that she was going to stay down for a good 3 hours and not wake up till after 7am and Cary could take care of her. Wrong, She woke up at 6am, hungry of course. So I fed her and burped her and changed her diaper and put her down. She slept a whole 45 minutes and was ready to start her day!! I wanted to punch myself in the face I was so exhausted at this point. Mind you, I slept even less the night before and haven't actually slept a full night for probably almost 4 months when I was still pregnant.

So today I'm trying to put her down in her crib for the first time. She usually sleeps in a bassinet next to our bed so that I can hear her if she cries and feed her without walking to the next room. But I have a feeling that our super creaky bed and the sounds of the street from our bedroom might contribute to her interrupted sleep. Who knows, but I'll try anything at this point.

Last week I finally bought a baby monitor. So my excuse of not being able to hear or see her is gone. About 45 minutes ago, I took all the pillows and blankets out of her crib, put her in a swaddle blanket, and placed her in the center of her giant crib. Then I stood there and watched as she minded her own business, kicking and punching, cooing and sucking her thumb. Then I set up the baby monitor, and finally left the room. After 5 minutes of fun, she wanted out and started whining. So I let her whine. Then the whines turned to cries and after 10 minutes of her being alone in her room, I went in and picked her up. She fell asleep in 2 minutes in my arms (thank goodness!). Then I got her bassinet out of our room and put it in her room and put her in the bassinet and set up the baby monitor.

So I'm sitting in the living room right now, taking peaks at the baby monitor as she takes a nap. It's almost noon and she fell asleep around 11:20. She's never taken more than 45 minute naps during the day, unless she's in someones arms. Then she'll sleep for hours, but nothing gets done and I'm still sleep deprived. So if I can get this to work and start getting her to nap on her own around 11 everyday and have and hour or two get things done, I might actually start to get a handle on things...

Until then, I have sort of accepted the fact that may not sleep a single night for the rest of 2009. The little sleep I do get doesn't count as "sleep" to me. Theses are just naps. So until dear Sleep and I can reconnect, I will have to settle on an affair with Nap. Nap is stingy with it's time, rarely gives it up. I hate Nap, but I'm desperate and needy.

First shots

Layla got her first shots yesterday. And let me just say that it suuuuuucked.

The visit started out good. She weighed 11lbs 12 oz ( gained 2 lbs and 10 oz in 1 month), and she is 23 1/2 inches long (she grew 1 1/2 inches in 1 month). She was in the 95 percentile for height for her age and 75 for her weight, so she's doing great growth wise. I knew she must have grown some, but I didn't realize how much. This made me so so happy.

After the doctor examined her, the nurse came in and asked me to hold her while she gave her the shots. I couldn't bring myself to watch, but I know the exact moment that the needle went in. The look on her face and the screams she let out were gut wrenching. I've never felt so bad for her. I spent 1/2 soothing and nursing her before we left the doctor's office. By the time I got to the car she had exhausted herself to sleep. Little did I know the worst was yet to come. Here she is before all hell broke loose...

I got home and she just started wailing. Usually she's consolable, but her pain must have been too much. The place where the shots went in on her little legs were swollen and she was crying so hard that she was getting hotter and sweatier. She wouldn't eat and just seemed in agony, even worst then when we were at the doctor's office. I tried icing her legs, I gave her more baby Tylenol. After an hour I finally called Cary and asked him to come home. She cried for almost 3 hours straight. Even a bath didn't sooth her. Finally she passed out. She slept for something like 6 hours, which she has never done. The most she's slept is 3 1/2 hours straight. She even slept while Cary continued to ice her legs. When she woke up this morning she was ravenously hungry and had forgotten all about what had happened. She was extra smiley and kicky and super talkative with her coos and goos. She has not fever and her legs are back to normal. I think Cary and I are still traumatized.