Sun Bonnet!

My admission: I am pale, burn easily, and skin cancer runs in my family on both sides.  What's more, I live in Texas where every day is high on the UV index.  Oh, and I love the outdoors.

I am naturally concerned I might pass on my proclivity to burn to my daughter, but I refuse to keep her indoors all the time.  Solution?  Sun bonnet!

I found it on Etsy (shock!) at Urban Baby Bonnets.  She has tons of fabrics to choose from, and even makes some for cold weather, not that we have that here...  Maybe when we move to Colorado (in my dreams).

I'll post super cute pictures as soon as it comes in!   It shipped today, so I have high hopes I will see it soon.

No More ESP

I have an addictive, obsessive-compulsive personality.  When Eva was born, I was in Nirvana because I found a program for my phone that allowed me to track her diapers, her eating times, and her sleeping (and baths, medicine, and anything else!).  It was aptly called BabyESP, and it made me feel in control and like I could actually be a parent.

Skip forward 2 months and I was still obsessively tracking everything.  I couldn't feed her without my phone right next to me so I could pause the timer when she broke suction to look around the room (distractable baby).  I decided it was time to take action!

Starting this morning, I'm vowing no more BabyESP.  Cold turkey.  I took the shortcut off my phone's home screen, and I might have to delete the program entirely.  It's painful yet liberating to just change her diaper without needing to note the exact time and consistency.  Yes, I was crazy.

Next obsession to break: nightly weigh-ins, but that will have to wait until I can prove to myself that no longer tracking her milk consumption won't make her lose weight.

Ode to a Playmat

"La la la - I'm not songwriter - la la la - My playmat rules!"

Yes, you heard me, the playmat rules.  When we first got it, Eva was 6 weeks old and she would SCREAM anytime we left her on it.  Now, I can update blog posts, surf the net, or respond to heated message board threads all while my baby plays on her mat next to me.  

The toys!

The tactile stimulation!

The colors, lights, sounds!

Yes, it plays music and those little flowers light up in time to the rhythm.

It's all great for quiet, self-entertaining play - the kind I hear is excellent for little minds.  

I think she's increased her stamina to 30 minutes in the morning, 15 minutes at any subsequent time.  And ALWAYS 5 minutes of it is belly time.  "Why only 5 minutes??" you question.  Because we're still working on her not hating her tummy or spitting up...

And FYI, the playmat is the Tiny Love Super Deluxe Lights and Music Gymini Activity Gym

January 2011, it's a fun month!

Our little baby girl just turned 2 months old, and man-oh-man has she changed.  She's gone from being a newborn with two modes - eating and sleeping - to a real baby.  She smiles, she coos, she stands, and she's rolled over twice!  Eva is even starting to make friends with Milo...

Grandpa Boshernitzan has perfected the art of making his doppelganger smile by making funny faces and sounds.

On the more beautiful days in Houston we go to the park to walk around.  Here Eva and I are in the rose garden at Herman Park.

Eva celebrated her first Shabbat on the 21st, and the candles seemed to hold most of her attention.  Keeping with Jewish tradition, we finally hung her mezzuzah outside her bedroom (thank you, Susan and Jaime Ganc).  

 

Sleep

I've officially decided that sleep is the controlling factor in my life now; in particular: Eva's sleep.  I wait for her to nap so I can clean the house or shower.  I pray for her to nap while we're out in public.  I rush home to complete her nighttime routine so, hopefully, she will sleep most of the night.  Then I wake up with her in the morning and play until her first nap of the day, when the cycle repeats.

It's amazing that one little baby can so completely control my every movement.  It's also amazing that any resentment I might have felt disappears as soon as I look at her.  When she's asleep she looks like a perfect porcelain doll.  When she's awake, she smiles and plays and coos like a champ and immediately endears herself.

She's not even close to sleeping through the night - waking every few hours to snack and then fall back asleep - but every time I hold her against my chest I realize how blessed I am to have her to hold against my chest and how quickly this moment will pass.

Family Photo Album, 2010

I lost sleep to do it, but it's done!

Click here to view this photo book larger

Update: Life with a newborn

I used to want 5 children, a big happy family.  After having my first newborn, I'm thinking I may stick to 1.  I mean, only children turn out decently, and I may not have as many weddings to help plan and grandkids, but still!  Newborns are HARD!

They are also rewarding.  Need evidence?  See below.

We've been adjusting to the changes decently well, though.  Yaniv takes Eva long enough to let me shower and make myself presentable every day and gives her a bottle (of breast milk, don't worry) every night to let me rest.  I'm adjusting to the new sleeping patterns, and she's starting to become slightly more regular, including her fussy period every night before bedtime.  

It's really amazing looking at her only a month after she was born and seeing how much she's already changed.  I can hardly picture her as the 7 pound lightweight I held not so long ago.  If she's changed this much in a month, I am dumbfounded to think what the next 50 years will bring.  

We're still waiting on our first official smile just for us, but she does smile a lot.  She also loves to stand tall and she holds her head up incredibly well.  It's a good change to see her developing a personality, especially one that is so darn cute!