super heroes

Parenthood is an incredible role.  Being a mom makes me want to be a better person since I want to be a good role model for her.  It is easy to be in a good mood and patient when I am with her. She brings out the best in us and those that we meet.  She is also so easy to please.  Providing her with unconditional love and attention is all that she needs.  She thinks we are rock stars and super heroes.  Just this afternoon, I was nodding my head back and forth while listening to a song, I wasn't even trying to dance or get her attention while she fed.. She stopped to look up at me as she has been doing lately.. and she saw my bobbing back and forth and began to giggle.. of course, then I began to ham it up since I love to hear her giggle... ah.. pure sweetness....  It's dreamy...

Recently on John Stewart's show he mentioned that his son thinks he is a super heroe because he can reach the top shelf..  so funny but so true..  I think Bridget already feels that way and she hasn't even seen us reach the top shelf.  She makes us feel like super heroes just being in her presence.  she is an incredible gift!!

Tough Competition

Bridget is more and more aware of  her surroundings but it can be tough competition for her parents.  In the first week or two, her vision was limited as was her time in an awake state.  Then in week 3 she became alert and her time in active or passive alert states was  longer. She was enthralled with her environment and had a hard time napping. She had trouble closing her eyes since she was so stimulated.. now at 16 weeks, she continues to take it all in.  We are surprised by what interests her..  For at least a month now she is enthralled by lights.  We have a night light on the floor of our bedroom and when she wakes up for her feeding in the night, she is distracted by the light.  In the morning when she and I hang out on the bed, she is mesmerized by the shadows on the headboard, as well as the light coming through our shades.. She loves our poster of the clipper ships in San Francisco which is in our living room. She stares at it at least 3 times a day. We think this is because it is a very clear poster in black and white.  Her vision for colors probably isn't as clear.  Lately, she seems interested in our bookshelves.  We have a future reader on our hands..  Well, she may be looking at the photos on the bookshelf but we tell ourselves that she is already into reading..  We often hold her up to a mirror. She enjoys looking at me and her in the mirror. It will be so neat when she realizes that the reflection is of her...  We'll have to ask Grandpa when this will happen..  We took her for a walk outside of our complex today. The flowers are gorgeous. We sat on a bench and looked at the flowers while we spoke with Bridget. I don't think she noticed the flowers. She loves to look at our faces and grab her clothes or her fingers and suck on them.. she is so easy to please and so happy...  We are in love!!

nicknames

we have several nicknames for Bridget

• Sweet Pea is #1- this started in the womb.  
• little pea
• bridge
• B
• sweetie
• cutie pie
• cutie
• little girl
• good girl
• baby girl
• angel

16 weeks

Bridget is 16 weeks today!!  Wow.. she is changing and developing so quickly..

Since 12 weeks, she now

•  gets herself to sleep. We put her in her basinet after I nurse her and she falls asleep on her own.. 
• She sleeps 6-9 hours straight without a feeding.. 
  
• smiles often, and shows us how happy she is by opening her mouth really wide!
• giggles and laughs a few times a day
• smiles when Chris or I walk into the room
• no longer needs to be swaddled, she sleeps with the sleep sak since 12 weeks
• has a longer attention span, can dance longer and look at books longer, stares intently when I sing her a lullaby and smiles when we sing and dance with her.
• seems to be more aware of others besides just her parents.. at yoga, she looks at the other moms and babies as well as me..  
• kicks her legs  like crazy when she is on the changing table.
• "talks" a lot to her mom and dad.. some of her favorite times are first thing in the morning and anytime when she is on the changing table.  We think this is due to the great eye contact she gets with us in that position.
• Our favorite sound she makes is the cooing.. 
• soothes herself with her hands - see hand sandwich. 
• Explores her world through her mouth- she puts all her toys and her clothes in her mouth.  the last two days she has worn a sun dress and she has lifted it up to suck on the dress.  Yummy!
• scoots  herself forward with her legs when she is on her back. Today she scoots  herself the length of the crib while playing with the gym mat in the crib with Daddy admiring her accomplishment.
• She continues to let others hold her and to be a relatively easy going baby..
• She continues to enjoy snuggling whether it's while nursing or just being picked up and held. she is a real cuddler.
• She continues to open her mouth wide when I kiss her on the mouth, it's her way of asking for more!!
• She loves exploring with her hands. Besides her hand sandwich, she also loves to join them together.. this is often her position when nursing in bed.
• She continues to love to nap with her mom and dad.. Well, we love it too... I never knew Chris to nap so much.. it's great for him..

Listening to your heart

 Parenting is similar to teaching in this way.. I feel that many styles and philosophies work in teaching.. The trick is to match your personality with a style that you feel comfortable with.  I think the same is true with parenting..  It worked for us to have a midwife and deliver at a hospital with birthing tubs and showers and walk during labor.. it works for me to breastfeed Bridget when she is hungry and not keep to a set schedule.. it works for us to help her go to sleep around 7pm so that we can have dinner together and go to the gym too..  But when I talk to other moms I see that their styles are different and their styles work for them.. That is the beautiful thing about parenting..  you find your way as a family and adjust as needed..  there isn't a right way to do it!!  It can be messy but it's also beautiful and amazing at the same time..  She keeps us 

living in the moment and listening to our hearts.. she is full of our love and she lights up our world!!  we never dreamed it would be this good..  wow!! 

Bridget's first visit to an irish pub

Today was another hot day for our Irish lass. We had planned on running the Rye derby with Bridget in tow.  After hearing the forecast, we instead decided to be spectators.  We went for a short visit to the Derby hoping to catch up with some of my running friends and their babies.  The heat was sweltering - 89 degrees so we left after a short visit.  We spent the afternoon taking a family nap and then Chris went to buy an air conditioning unit for Bridget's room. What a good daddy!! 

 Later today we met several friends from my running group at a new irish pub to celebrate their races. I think Chris and I were just celebrating getting out to dinner!!  

  It was Bridget's first visit to an irish pub and she loved it.  It is a good sized place with outdoor patios, a great menu and a large bar area.  Although the  pub has only been open 10 days, it was packed. - Great sign in this economy!

 Bridget loved looking around at all of the people talking and eating  and since it was fairly loud, when she did fuss since it was close to her bedtime, no one could hear..  perfect..   I'm sure we will be back for more dinners at that pub. YAY!

Bridget's first Fiesta

On Saturday April 26th, we traveled to a communion party for one of Chris' cousin's daughter.  We dressed Bridget in her Easter dress and traveled to Long Island. As  novice parents, we were a little nervous to go to this party. After all, we weren't sure if she would be able to nap and we were concerned about a meltdown at the country club..  Well, we shouldn't have worried, there were many babies born this year in the family and they were all at the party including one baby that was one week old who made a short appearance.  It was fun to meet the other babies. One is 8 months old, one is 5 months old, one is one week old and then there is our little one who is almost 4 months old.  It was a real joy to introduce Bridget to the family. Chris was a real proud father, sitting in the bar area with Bridget on his lap.  Bridget received many compliments on her looks.  Although there was a magician at the party, we didn't need his help to get her to sleep. She took a short nap with the help of Grandma.  Bridget melted down at usual time- 6:30 right when we were leaving. Unfortunately, we hit a horrible traffic jam in LI and she was not happy with us.  Finally,  she fell asleep on the car ride home. Pfew!!  

On the Boardwalk

On Friday 4/24, our good friend Cecilia came to visit from Boston. It was so great to see her.  Although we don't see her often, we have a real connection and always have a fun time.  Since Cecilia loves the water and it was such a beautiful day, we decided to take Bridget to Rye. We went for a walk along the boardwalk there which is along the Long Island Sound. It was beautiful and we had a chance to catch up. Unfortunately, Bridget shares our irish complexion so she was really hot.  So, after a short walk, we stopped on the board walk to take in the view. We took Bridget out of the stroller to show her the view of the water. It struck us that in the stroller she doesn't see much of the view especially since I had an extension on the canopy to give her more shade. I realized that she had no idea that we were on the water until we took her out.  The view of the beach and the amusement park  and the sound is a view that I love. I look forward to taking Bridget there often this summer with Chris.  Most of all,  I look forward to playing with her on the beach in the future and swimming or wading with her in the water.  

grandparents

One thrilling part of becoming a parent is watching my parents with Bridget.  They love her so much and they are so happy with her.  I had a great relationship with my grandparents, particularly my mom's parents.  They spent a lot of time with me, living nearby in the Bronx.  Apparently, my grandfather did not stop talking about what a great baby I was, how beautiful, etc.  I had the advantage of being the first grandchild in the family.  My earliest memory, perhaps at about a year and a half old, I am dragging my grandpa's coat down the hall saying, "out, out" pleading for a walk outside.  I also remember him taking me to Irish pubs in the Bronx to hang out with his friends.  He was unusually kind and gregarious so he loved to be social.  I get a big kick out of seeing my folks with Bridget.  They ooze love and pride.  My mom always wanted a girl, but stopped at three boys.  I talked to them the other day and my mom told me they had dinner looking at my mom's birthday card with Bridget on it.  It is a special relationship.  It is neat to see them, perhaps glimpsing back in time to what they were like with me and my brothers.  She brings them a lot of joy and I know Bridget will gain so much from being close with them.  Grandparenting is a good gig, spoiling and fussing over a cute baby.

Be careful what you ask for

So bridget has been especially verbal lately and we are lving it..  She " talks" in her language especially when we are engaging her. She is smart. She only talks with an audience. We have been really encouraging her lately and her " talking " has really blossomed.  She speaks a lot when on the chaning table probably because she has such good eye contact with us from there. Well, last night she slept well ( from 7-3) which fingers crossed has been pretty normal for her. Then I put her back in the bassinet after her feeding around 3:30am. Well,  she wasn't ready for sleep and began to blabber despite not having an audience.. UGH!!  she talked for awhile.Unlike during the day, we ignored her and didn't encourage her although she may have heard us moaning about her talking..  Well, I'm not sure when she finally ceased and got herself back to sleep but I fell back asleep and woke up around 7am to the sound of the hand sandwich.. Which is so sweet to the ears!!

Living with a Celebrity

As new parents,we were surprised how quickly our lives changed and how easily we fell in love with our dear baby Bridget.  Many people told us about the life change but really we had to experience it to understand.  It's amazing and the love that we feel for Bridget is unlike any love we knew about.  We didn't realize we could love someone so much and each day that we spend wit her our love grows. Amazing..  Well, we aren't the only ones who love Bridget.  Her grandparents for one, are head over heels to have their first grandchild and especially a grand daughter.  They think she is perfect and probably always will.  We knew our friends and family would be excited about her birth but we really underestimated the level of her celebrity status.  We've had many visits and we've actually had to schedule the visits to not overwhelm our deity.  We realize that people aren't coming to see us, and it is really obvious when the visitors come.   They want to admire her, it doesn't even matter if she is awake.   We get that our status has been downgraded.  It's great to see her bring such joy to others.

Inner Smile

During the pregnancy we played music for the baby. We realized that the sense of hearing developed early and we wanted to engage the baby with fun music and we would sing to the baby too.  We began playing our favorites nightly and we found that with particularly lively dance music, the baby would kick a lot.  In Bridget's 2nd month we began playing dance music for her and dancing with her when Chris returned from work. It became a part of our day and something we the parents really looked forward to.  It all happened by accident, we were listening to Inner Smile, the song from Bend it Like Beckham, one day and spontaneously we began dancing since we both love the song and the tune is so catchy.  Bridget was staring at us and she began to smile her huge smile.  She hadn't ever seen us move like that in an uninhibited way to the music.   Her smile got bigger as we danced more, then we took her arms and began dancing with her. She now opened her mouth as wide as she could and her eyes were sparkling.  In fact her eyes were dancing too.  Once we saw the effect it had on her we made it a daily activity.  Even when she is beginning to tire or melt down the dancing distracts her and produces a smile.  

the eviction

Bridget was so comfortable in the womb that she had to be evicted.  The pregnancy reached 41 weeks and so I went for an ultrasound to check that all was ok.  It turned out that the amniotic fluid was low, well the placenta is designed to last 40 weeks, as my midwife reminded us.  So, we were told to go to the hospital and I would be induced. It is now Monday January 5th.. Let's back up a bit..  On the previous  Saturday, since labor hadn't started and I was 40 weeks, I had an accupuncture appointment to try to induce labor naturally.  Well, it did jump start things because Saturday night the contractions began.  Unfortunately, they were very inconsistent and never got closer than 10 minutes apart.  Sunday was the same and the midwives encouraged me to have a glass of wine Sunday night so that I could get some rest.  It worked and I slept a few hours on Sunday night. Monday afternoon I was admitted. The doctor on call advised my midwife to induce me with the drug pitocin so she did. Probably around 4pm was when the drug took effect.  I tried to rest but also I was able to labor in lots of positions. I walked, used the whirlpool and shower. Chris was amazing, very encouraging and patient.  It was a long night and I recall the midwife telling Chris to take a nap on the cot because i would have the baby before midnight. It was around 10:30 at that point. Well, the next thing I remember is that it was 2:30 am.  boy was I tired!!  Well, somehow I became dilated enough to push. at this point, Chris became a DJ. He turned on the IPOD and began playing songs like," Push It and I Want a new Drug."  Chris and the nurses and midwife really enjoyed it.. I'm not sure how much of it I heard.  One nurse even asked Chris if he was a DJ.. funny...

I remember reaching down to feel Bridget's head at one point and one more push and then hearing," it's a girl."  at 5:30am beautiful Bridget was born..  Chris immediately said," Megan she is gorgeous."  the nurses were commenting on her gorgeous full lips and button nose.. 

hand sandwich

As a new nursing mom,  I was discouraged from  giving Bridget a pacifier for the first few weeks.  Although we bought pacifiers around week 2 or 3, she never really took to it. They may have soothed her for a moment or two but nothing much more than that.  I was told that if she didn't have a pacifier she would sooner or later, find her hands.. Sure enough in her 2nd month, she began exploring her hands and now in her third month she often joins  her hands together when she is nursing or sitting in her chair. Bridget has found that her hands provide an excellent soothing source.. They are always with her.. Her hand sandwich takes many forms. She often tries to stick both hands in her mouth at once and suck on them and sometimes she just sucks on one or one thumb.  She has become a mellow baby. When she wakes in the morning she doesn't cry or fuss, instead we hear her sucking on her hands and we realize that she is awake. It's the cutest sound to  hear in the morning. 

Rookie mistakes

Tuesday night I went swimming at the Y after Bridget fell asleep. Yes, these days we put her in the bassinet around 7 and she is getting herself to sleep. YAY.. progress.. We are so proud of her.  

Anyway, I am at the Y and I ran into a nice older man that I used to speak with from time to time coming to or from the pool. He congratulated me on our baby and began to tell me some of his stories about raising his children.. He said,"  the first born is really special."  Then he proceeded to say that they made lots of mistakes but the kids turned out fine..  I told him that we had already made lots of mistakes but I was finding that it was getting easier and well, Bridget didn't know that we were rookies.. He had a great story of how he and his wife went out to dinner with their newborn in tow. She was in a carrier under the table while they ate.  After a relaxing dinner, they left the restaurant feeling relaxed and carefree. It wasn't until they reached the car that they realized they had left their baby under the table. At that very moment they spotted the waitress running towards them carrying their baby with a panic look on her face. Well, he has us beat for now.. but I am sure we will have our stories too..  One thing I hadn't anticipated is how being a parent connects us to many people.  Raising a child is a universal experience.. and people love to tell their stories..

Earth Day

To celebrate Earth Day, Bridget dressed as a monkey. She wore her Life is Good monkey shirt and hat and her 1st pair of jeans. She really did look like a monkey. I was waiting for her to start making monkey sounds.. She actually was extremely verbal today.  At home when it's just me and Chris she made lots of sounds and when we respond with questions such as" who else was there?, or was daddy in your dream?, and then what happened? or comments like, wow! that's fantastic.. I didn't realize that happened.., she continues to "talk" as if she understands our questions and comments. It is really neat to see watch her communicating with us and interacting with the world around her.  We were scheduled to visit some child care centers but one canceled so instead we visited Daddy at work. He was thrilled when we called to tell him.. okay..Bridget isn't calling him on her cellphone yet..  For Earth Day his school was dressed down and they didn't use any electricity.  Since some rooms were really dark we mostly went into the office and the hallways of the school.  Bridget met more teachers and students. She was a real hit. One teacher made a comment that stuck with me for the rest of the day. She saw Bridget in the car seat and said," it's like you are carrying around your love right there."  That pretty much sums it up. 

Stanwich

Ever since Bridget was born, Chris' students have been clamoring to meet her as have the faculty at Stanwich.. It's hard to imagine why.. Chris hardly ever talks about her.. It must be his screen saver on the smartboard which is a photo of Bridget..

So, last week, I decided to make a trip to Stanwich to visit Chris.. We called Daddy at the last minute to see if it was a good day and time. Well, boy was he excited. Chris met us in the parking lot and picked Bridget right up out of my arms.  He proceeded to tour the school with her on his shoulder with the proudest smile on his face.  I followed behind, I was really just Bridget's chauffeur.. the last stop was the cafeteria where the students were eating their lunch.. It's hard to get the attention of middle school students, believe me I know.. but Chris walking in with Bridget made heads turn.. the girls all crowded around to see little Bridget up close and the boys turned their heads to see.. Chris proceeded to take a seat holding Bridge so everyone could see her face..  The lunch period passed quickly and we kissed Chris goodbye. He was still beaming and he said," Bridget you made my day." 

a wild ride

As a new parent, I am always looking for ways to engage Bridget (or keep her from fussing, a selfish pursuit I admit), lately at three and a half months, I put her on my stomach seated and tell her we are going for a white water rafting ride, she seems game, thereupon I undulate in this silly simulation of river rapids, complete with sound effects, she seems to enjoy it, never ceases to get a smile, sometimes a giggle, granted she is proto-verbal so I am not taking complaints at this point, it is priceless to watch her develop.