Father's Day

I was thrilled to celebrate my first father's day this year. Fatherhood has been more amazing than I ever thought possible. I have been doubly blessed. First, my dad is nothing short of extraordinary. I grew up thinking he was so smart, athletic, tough, kind, funny, and empathetic - a kind of superman. I still think this way, the older I get the more I appreciate him. He is the most grounded, centered person I know and I have turned to him any number of times for help and he is always there. If I can be half the father to Bridget that he was to me, I will consider myself quite successful. It has been so satisfying to watch him in his new role of grandfather - he can't contain his love and pride. Megan gave me a great present for the holiday, a personalized photo album with lots of great photos. She wasn't able to wait until sunday, so she gave it to me early. I also got a personalized card with wonderful sentiments. It brought so many memories of the past six months to mind. Every day I marvel and Bridget and thank God for being so blessed. I love her more and more and that love is more profound than I could ever explain. I am at once savoring every moment and looking forward to so many experiences with her. We had lunch that day with grandma, grandpa, and uncle Kieran and aunt Nikki - it was great to see everyone, but the best part was just spending all day with Bridget, showing her off.

progress report

5 months:

Physical growth- 

Bridget is growing at a very steady rate- she is now 15 lbs. She continues to be very long for her age at 26 inches. She continues to grow in many areas.  We are noticing that her eyelashes are getting longer by the week.  wow!  she is teething and has been since 4 months but now we can feel her bottom teeth.

Motor skills:

She continues to roll on her side often and sometimes rolls from her back to her front. She is beginning to reach for her toys.  Tummy time is getting much easier. She holds her head up well and pushes her arms into the floor. YAY!!  She can touch her toes and can place them in her mouth.. she continues to place both hands in her mouth.. yummy this is to soothe her and also helps with the teething..

Interacting with her environment- 

She continues to be very curious. she loves to look around at people.  She still tracks our voices and loves to watch people talk, particularly people that use their hands to talk.   Her main way of interacting with her environment is with her mouth. This is how she explores so anything of interest that can be placed in her mouth, is placed there.  

five months and growing strong!

Bridget is 5 months now and boy is she growing!!  At her 5 month visit she weighed 15 lbs and 1oz, and was 26 inches long.  We went to our new pediatrician. He is an integrative doctor with degrees in eastern and western medicine. He uses acupuncture in his practice and even teaches patients to meditate.. he is conservative on the vaccines which I like too.  He has an easy going personality and isn't into all of the scores..  All that we know is that Bridget is average in weight and above average in length..  The doctor didn't take out a chart with the percentages.. honestly, we are fine with that.. The best part was surprisingly the shots.. Since Bridget is going to daycare in the near future we have to do some of the shots.  So, the doctor and I spoke and decided which shots she would have. Then the nurse came in and I was singing and playing with Bridget to distract her.. They gave her two shots and I recall when she had these same two at our previous doctors' office.  She bled a lot and was very sad..  This time, she made a sad face after the second shot but didn't cry and didn't bleed. In fact they didn't even need a band aid at all.   First of all, the nurses are very skilled. secondly, they must use very small needles since she didn't bleed.  Boy was I happy and so was Bridget.. I am so thrilled that we switched.  The office is 1/2 hour drive unlike the other that was 5 minutes away, but it does seem worth it..  The doctor was impressed that B hasn't been sick yet since she was a winter baby. We have been so careful with having people wash their hands before holding her and the nursing certainly helps since I pass the antibodies to her. 

bailey hughes

Bridget has a cousin on the hughes's side of the family!!  Bailey was born on june 6th.. she weighed 8lbs and was 21 inches.. wow!! she is much bigger than our little gal.. we can't wait to meet her when she comes to visit this August.  - she lives in SF with her parents..  Bridget and Bailey will have lots of fun in the future together since they are just 5 months apart.. YAY!!

oh the places we go!

In our complex we have a playground with swings and a jungle gym for toddlers and a separate area for older kids.. I never gave it too much thought.  Recently, I was thinking that she could play there when she is around one year old.  Then on a walk with Bridget last weekend, I went by the playground and we looked around.. I realized that some of the swings were the seat swings that she could sit in.  Since she sits up with minimal support, I thought I'd give it a try.. I put her in the swing while holding on and gently swong- (is that a word??), her in a circular direction.. well, she really liked it.. she was not giggly, but was really mellow..

 Later, I took her down the little slide, I held onto her the whole way down.. she really like this..  so, now I am really appreciating that we have a playground.. it's so convenient..  just steps away.

so, now I'll be looking around for other playgrounds and seeing what kind of equipment they have.. funny how I look at the world differently now.. 

PARTY

Bridget went to her first birthday party. It was a party for a one year old boy of a friend of ours.  He is adorable and a little bruiser. I doubt he knew what was going on but he seemed to enjoy the cake. It was precious to see all of the kids with their party hats singing happy birthday.  Bridget wore a party hat too and it was adorable.  We had fun at the party catching up with friends, but we were thinking that we will probably skip the one year old party. Instead we may do a one year survival party for Chris and I when Bridget has gone to bed..  now that is something to celebrate!!

Bridget's first suitor

Today was our yoga teacher's last day. We were very sad and we gave her a photo book of all the  mommies and babies pictures.. she was thrilled. It was a pain to make, compiling everyone's info and getting it together, but I am so glad that I did it.. she was so touched that she cried.. We will miss her dearly, but I am happy for her as she is moving to Spain and beginnning a new adventure and a new life with her husband and daughter. 

 Class was great as usual and Bridget made a friend.. Olin is a very sweet older boy who was clearly touched by Bridget.. He is over 7 months old, he sits up by himself and he eats solids.. very impressive resume, I think.. he also has a very cool mom who speaks spanish and is a veterinarian..  Today he grabbed and held Bridget's hand.. She let him do so as he gazed at her..  adorable.. luckily, our teacher was there with her camera and she caught it on film.. Priceless!!

Chris has already spoken with Olin about his intentions!!

Big Girl

Bridget is a big girl now.. She is in her own room now.. Yes, it took us 4.5 months.. She h as been in the co- sleeper( basinette) in our room.  It was easier for nursing and then I just got used to  having her there. Honestly, I loved going to bed and seeing her sleeping and waking up with her beside our bed. And it was so easy to nurse during the night.  But when she was about 4 months old it became apparent that she had outgrown the basinette. Let's put it this way, when she stretched out her arms, she hit the sides.. wow!!  so, the first step was to buy a monitor, then we had to take the play gym out of the crib. Previously, she had been playing in the gym in the crib so we had to establish the crib as a sleeping area, not a playing area.  And then for the big move, I think it was harder on me, then on her.. I was sad because it meant that she was getting bigger.. She wouldn't ever be in the basinette again.. but, I quickly got used to having our room back.. being able to read before going to bed among other things..  not having to get my gym clothes out of there before I put her to bed.. having some private space with chris..  wow!!  She is waking up more often due to the teething- which started around 4 mo n ths and being in her own room.. so , I have a strategy that seems to be working.. I feed her once during the night and then put her back to her room and then Turn off the Monitor.. yes, I actually do!!  And surprisingly, I don't have guilt about it.. It helps me get a few more hours sleep. Then, when I wake up around 7, I go and get her.. She is usually kicking her legs on her crib and cooing.. I figure if she was really crying I would hear her.  She is just next door, although with the ceiling fans and our white noise machine... it's not so quiet..  So, Bridget is getting bigger and more independent and her mom is getting more independent too. hee hee.

Giggles

So, my favorite sound is Bridget's laugh.. not surprising to most parents, I guess.  We are hearing it more and more these days. It is still a mystery what makes her giggle.. The first few times it was her mimicking us. We were laughing as we watched Seinfeld and she began to laugh.. Lately she laughs at other things.. some words make her laugh, like the word, YAY and when I move her body in certain ways, she laughs.. This morning she was laughing with her full belly laugh as I laid her on my thighs facing me and I opened her arms out to the sides very wide, then I would bring her arms in and touch her  hands to each other. I did this several times and got faster and faster.. she kept howling.. ofcourse we were laughing hard at this so she was laughing at us laughing and it was contagious..

Dancing to music generally makes her smile and sometimes she laughs.. last night we were listening to Cupid  by Sam Cooke. Bridget began to laugh when Chris sang," Don't know much about history."" she is so smart. she knew that wasn't true..   or perhaps she was laughing at his singing.. we'll never know.. We will continue to do silly things to hear our favorite sound..

5 months

Bridget is 5 months today!!  We celebrated by attending the hudson valley arts festival in Sleepy hollow to mark the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson's expedition on the hudson river.  We heard spanish poetry and saw some amazing ships at this gorgeous park on the hudson.. The main ship is the same type of ship that Hudson used in his sailing journey. They even sounded the cannons. Bridget took a nap on her daddy on a picnic table but she was quite startled when she heard the cannons. A few friends were there and the weather was perfect. It was about 75 and clear and sunny along the river.  This morning was a big milestone for her. She has been turning 90% from back to side and this morning, she flipped from her back to her front.. yay, Bridget.. what's next, only she knows!!