VIDEO TIME

I have discovered how easy it now is to post videos, so I'm going to put a few on here from the past and I'll try to put videos on here more frequently. I love you guys!

The Squealer

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Alexis is going to be a squealer, I just know it. She is growing a lot more communicative, especially in the mornings. She usually gets up around 6:30-7:00 right now, and when she sees me first thing in the morning, her smile is huge! I couldn't ask for anything better. She is so happy in the morning when she first wake up. It's like she sees us ans says to herself, "oh, THERE they are. Hooray!" She also tends to get distracted when she's eating first thing in the morning; she'll eat until she's somewhat satisfied, but then she'll want to stare up at me and smile and she'll forget what she's doing...

She's 4 1/2 months old now and is the champion thumb-sucker. It's actually inhibited her rolling over some because she gets lazy and just wants to put her thumb in her mouth. Right now she spends lots of time during the day on her tummy, and her neck control is really improved and she's pushing up all the time, and yesterday she rolled over again after a few days of not doing so. ALSO, she actually roller over from her back to her front!!! It was so cool; she got herself on her side and then after a few moments pushed herself over. I don't know when that will happen again - it kind of seemed like a fluke, but I'll let everyone know.

So she sucks on her fingers and hand, and she makes all sorts of noises now. I'm going to try to capture them on video when Jason gets back with the camera. She's still sleeping through the night, which is great. Her typical day right now is get up around 6:30-7:00, take a 2-3 hour nap late morning until early afternoon, catnap a bit in the late afternoon and evening, and then go to sleep around 8:00-8:30. She's still eating well, and Dr. Mora is probably going to try her out on solids next month.

I really thought I had also included info about her visit with Aunt Jen, but I have not already. Anyway, she had a really great time and Alex definitely liked her! We did all sorts of stuff, including boat tours and volcano visits. Alex was great!

Four Months

My beautiful, amazing, wonderful daughter is now four months old, and she's doing great!

First, the trip to the states was wonderful. I was definitely apprehensive about traveling with her. We flew into Fort Lauderdale, got there about five in the morning, and proceeded to have an eight-hour layover. She was so great about traveling. Everyone that worked for the airlines and airports was wonderful about helping us out and even letting us cut lines. Alex cried only a few times for only a few moments on the first flight, and then on the rest of them she was completely content, no problem whatsoever. Alex also did great adjusting to being in the states. She got a cold while she was there, but then again, so did I. I think it was the central air that got our systems down; it's been over two years since I've experienced central air conditioning on a regular basis, and it was definitely an adjustment, albeit a wonderful one. Everyone was so accommodating and made the entire trip go really smoothly, and I'm so glad people got to meet her while she was this age. Only three months left!

Anyway, current updates. Alex had her checkup yesterday and is now eleven pounds, four ounces. She's still in the 25th percentile for size, but neither Jason nor I are large people, and she'll probably stay on the smaller size (I think - after all, I'm only five three, and that's a stretch). Dr. Mora took her off of the Zantac that she's taking for acid reflux and we're going to see how she does without it. She'll be on the other cisaprida until she's six months old. (That's the medicine she's taking because of the surgery and her immature digestive system, which is doing very well). Dr. Mora is pleased with her progress and thinks she's fine. It's great for me to be able to walk into the doctor's office and not feel as though I have tons of questions or concerns... I think I might be getting the hang of this parenting thing.

In other adorable news, ALEX IS ROLLING OVER!!!! Yes, I am a proud mom. She had her third appointment with her physical therapist (who is wonderful and comes to our house), and we got some more exercises to do with Alex to continue helping her with her muscular development. The pt was pleased with Alex's progress. She saw Alex on Monday morning, and then on Monday afternoon she rolled over! Alex was still not a huge fan of being on her stomach, but she steadily, after her pt appointment, started pushing herself up on her elbows. I thought THAT was a big deal, and then she suddenly rolled over, all in an afternoon. Now she's a champion of it. She's only rolling from her stomach to her back, and that's normal to be first. Maybe in a month or so she might be rolling over the other way! I think it all started when she was turning herself around in her crib. I'd put her head in one direction and then find it on the other direction. Or she would put herself in the corner, as though she had done something bad...

Anyway, Alex is doing great. And yes, those are cherry Twizzler nibs that were placed on her head. I have NO idea how they got there. And Alex is very appreciative of Nanny's wheat thins...

14 1/2 Weeks

Momentous Events....

Alex is in the middle of a huge developmental leap. At least, I think. Anyway, last night she slept through the night, and I'm not talking about the "technical" 5-6 hours that's considered sleeping through the night. She slept from 9-5!!! The only sad thing about it was that I woke up like 16 times because I'm so used to having to get up in the middle of the night. Also, just a few moments ago she started swatting at her zebra with her left hand! She's been reaching out to touch a crinkle sound book that she has, and all of it is just really adorable and great.

I think one of the reasons she slept through the night too was that she saw her physical therapist yesterday and has a whole new set of exercises to working on, and I think the day tired her out. She was wonderful - incredibly nice, very thorough, and very honest. She said that in some ways Alex is fine but that in other ways she's behind, although she qualified it by saying that she thinks she's fine but always wants to be more on the "pessimistic side" in order to be safe. Alex has a whole bunch of different things to do now, like rolling in a sheet and balancing on a beach ball and having to spend more time on her stomach to try and develop use of her elbows and neck. She especially doesn't like that, but she has to do it, and she just cries and cries and it's so sad! But you gotta do what's best for your kid, right? She's so incredibly adorable and I can't wait for everyone to meet her who hasn't.

3 Month Updated

Alex had her three month appointment yesterday and is ten pounds, two ounces, and 23 inches. While she's doing pretty well, Dr. Mora is having us meet with a physical therapist to show us some additional exercises to help with her development. In some ways she's a month and a half behind because she was a month early and then spent 19 days flat on her back in the hospital, and all of that time has to be made up for. The big thing we're working on is developing her neck muscles, so we're doing a lot more of making her work for herself and not supporting her neck as much. So far she is NOT happy about it, but we're working on it.

The trip with dad here was great. It was full and (hopefully) relaxing all at the same time. Alex did incredibly well being out during those times, two days of which she was out for almost the entire day. Dad was surprised at how good she was, which was really nice. Hopefully this is all contributing to her being a flexible, easy-going kid. But she went to her first volcano, her first crater lake, saw an old fort, went to Granada, and walked around a small town known for its pottery. It was overall a really great time.

3 Months!!!

Yes, Alexis is three months old today! No, we didn't have a party for her. She's been doing great. The Zantac has really helped with the acid reflux and she is generally calmer. Also, she is getting to the stage when she can usually sleep 5-6 hours in a row, which technically means (in baby terms) that she is sleeping through the night. Isn't THAT wonderful? I've recently been getting about 5 hours of sleep in a row pretty consistently.

She's been smiling so much recently and we can tell how much she recognizes us. Her eyesight is improving too and we can see her looking at us from farther away, or looking outside. Her latest trick, though, involves her legs. In her bed I put her directly underneath her mobile so that she can stare up at her little animals. However, occasionally I'm finding her head all the way at the top of the crib because she's scooted herself up by pushing her legs against the mattress.

Dad's been here this week and she's been having a wonderful time with her granddad. She's been to volcanoes and old forts and crater lakes and lookouts. It's been amazing how wonderful she's been when we've taken her out. It's quite a bit of work, but she tends to be very chill when out, especially when she's in the car or in her carrier. She likes the motion of both, and they tend to put her to sleep. I've been using her carrier more often now, and it's great to be able to go to the grocery store when I need to and not have to depend on Jason to watch her.

One funny thing I've discovered is why all the Nicas think she's a boy. Inevitably they comment on the cute white baby but they always ask if she's a boy or assume that, even when she's wearing pink! However, we think it's because she doesn't have her ears pierced, which Nicas usually do in the first few days of a girl's life. So this is why they all think she's a boy.

I hope you enjoy the pics. More next time :) And the one of her in a blue dress - that's a dress that mom wore when SHE was a baby!!!

11 Weeks

Everyone knows about the zebra, right? The one that she likes to stare at? Well, on Friday we introduced Alex to her bouncy chair, and she seemed to enjoy it. It has a bar with some toys attached to it, but she doesn't seem to like those yet. (I think it was too much new stuff at one time.) Yesterday (Saturday), though, I took off the regular toys and attached her zebra to it, the one she likes to stare at. After she had been looking at the zebra for a few minutes, she started taking her right hand and, still intently focused on looking at the zebra, kept making swipes at it with her hand. IT WAS SO AMAZING! She did it again and again and kept hitting it! I was so proud and it was so cool to watch this small part of her development.

Alex continues to do well. It's 5:00 am here, but I am happy and content and awake because (drum roll, please...) Alex went six hours between feedings last night! This is great. She continues to go longer between feedings, which is wonderful but also takes some getting used to, and I'm hoping that pretty soon I'm consistently only getting up once during the night, and then hopefully she'll begin sleeping through the night most of the time. Her acid reflux seems to be doing much better due to the Zantac that she's on, and we try to hold her upright for at least fifteen minutes after feedings. (All of this is normal and Zantac is one of the most commonly prescribed drugs for babies with acid reflux.)

She also continues to focus more and more on objects and spends longer amounts of time entertaining herself. And she totally loves attention! Almost without fail, if we're out and there are other people around, she is very chill and enjoys being passed around from person to person and is rarely fussy during those times. She's also beginning to enjoy her baths more and more I think. Yesterday she didn't cry at all when I put her in and only cried when I took her out.

Alex continues to grow and we had to cycle out some of her clothes (I'm going to miss her little days of the week onesies that dad gave her) and got some new ones put in to the rotation. It's really crazy to look back at pictures from the beginning, especially of her in her pajamas, and realize how much she's grown. Her feet actually reach her pj feet now! Her eyes continue to be dark gray, although we're wondering if they are starting to get a little lighter. People always comment on her eyes and how big and intense they are. I also get more and more people commenting on how expressive she is. She tends to furrow her brow a bit and lift her eyebrows, making her look very inquisitive and attentive. She's probably just passing gas, though... :) And she has kept her hair and there seems to be only the slightest bit of thinning where her head rests against her bed. It's starting to grow more on her head where she didn't have it before, and it's getting pretty long as well. In the sunlight, her hair looks almost copper-colored. I keep wondering if her hair is going to have more red tints to it than expected. Maybe she'll look like nanny!

And Alex is now cooler than any other person I know; she has two passports! We picked up her US passport a while ago, and she got her Nicaraguan passport on Thursday. I wish I were cool enough to have dual citizenship!