Belated Easter Pictures

Here's Andrina's BEAUTIFUL 1st Easter Portraits!

I LOVE THESE!

I LOVE MY BABY ANDRINA!

Enjoy!

This last one is a big 10 x 13 going above our fireplace,
next to our wedding portrait.

Mommy Finally Got The Picture!

For over a month now, Andrina has been getting up on her hands and knees in a crawling position and then going up on her toes (when all of her weight is on her hands and her toes). She does this all the time but every time I see her do it, I either don't have my camera nearby or by the time the shutter clicks Andrina is not on her toes any more. Well, today I finally got a picture snapped where she is on her toes! The only thing that would have made the picture better would be if she was facing the camera too but she wasn't. Oh well, I'll keep trying!

Look how strong you are with all of your weight supported by your little hands and toes!

More F*@%!^* Snow???!!!

Here's a picture of my front lawn taken at 5:30 today. Even more snow. Yes, it is still "normal" to get snow in March in Chicago but come on! It's almost April! This weather is so awful and confining. I've complained about it before and I'll complain again. I am really, really ready for spring to arrive!

Mmmessy!

I opened up a box of "toddler" biscuits today. Andrina loved it! Even if she only gnawed away about 1/3 of it. It was super messy but that's ok (if you can't handle your kid making a mess, then you probably should not be a parent but that's another topic for someone else...).

Enjoy the pictures!

I'm going to marinate it in my drool first Mom...

This is different...
But I like it!

Want some Mommy?

Off to the Park!

Thanks to some nice weather today and yesterday, Andrina and I got to go to the park. Here's some pics of her getting there. I didn't bring my camera onto the playground. I'll have to get pictures of that next time.

Easter Pictures!

HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!

Forever

I just bathed Andrina, fed her a bottle, and put her to sleep for the night. After she drank her milk, I tried to put her up on my shoulder to burp her, but she did not want to burp. She wanted to socialize. So there we were in her darkened nursery with enough light coming in through the crack in the doorway for us to interact with each other. She was standing then kneeling on my lap, giggling and grabbing my face and glasses. Andrina was bouncing up and down, touching me and cooing and giggling. And I was laughing with her, telling her how much I love her. How all I need is her in this world and that I would kill or die for her without a second thought. And then she rested her head on my breast for a moment, then came back up to play some more. I told her how I love her more than anything and that I want her to always know that her mommy loves her. And then she got really quiet and gently put her hand on my cheek and looked me right in the eye for what seemed like a very long time. And I knew that I will always remember this. That my baby gave me another one of those poignant moments that will stay with me forever.

Going for a Walk

Ok, my last blog may have been a bit premature. I wrote it this morning when it was cold and the forecast on my computer said it would be no warmer than 39 degrees today. But this afternoon it was actually nice enough outside to take Andrina for a walk in her stroller. Which I did. I also showed her the side of our house where I am going to put up a toddler playground set for her once the nice weather is happening on a consistent basis. I've heard all about the impending snow coming and when Andrina and I came inside, Lou Dobbs was on talking about the snowstorm that is supposed to hit Chicago by Saturday and how global weather was colder this winter than it was last century. Oh how I want spring to come!

Nasty Weather Go Away!

Last week Thursday, we all got a wonderful taste of spring. The temperature was in the 50s, the sky was clear and blue and the air was calm. It was a beautiful day. And it happened to be the day my sister April and I had arranged to take the cousins to the playground together. They loved it. We loved it. I loved seeing the happy smiles on my baby's face and hearing her laughter as she was pushed in the swing. Oh how I want to be able to give that to Andrina again. How I want to enjoy her outdoor smiles and fun and feel the spring weather for myself too. Every day I have been eagerly checking the weather, hoping for a bright spot. We had one day since then where the weather was almost as nice so Andrina got to go for a walk in her stroller. But it was not nice enough to enjoy the swings. And the forecast through Easter is telling tales of temperatures in the 30s and snow. I have felt trapped in this house all winter due to the nasty weather. I am losing my patience waiting for my favorite season, spring. The promise of spring is what gets me though the winter after Christmas has passed. How I want to take my baby for walks every day. I want to push her on the swing at the park. I want to show her tulips and daffodils growing out of the ground. I want her to sit in the grass and explore her outdoor universe. I want to be able to smell the lilacs blooming with her. I want to enjoy the white and pink flowers budding on our trees with my baby. I want to show her our neighbor's horses and I'm sure their new foals. I want to breathe in the wonderful scent that spring brings and feel the warm air on my skin. Where everything is fresh and pure and life continues to renew itself. Is that asking for too much?

Andrina's First St. Patricks's Day

Here's Andrina in the most green outfit I have for her (and it's a little small too but hey...) for her first St. Patty's Day. Notice the cute white and green bow in her hair too?

Baby's Hungry Again!

Finally! I knew it would pass-Andrina is back to drinking more milk again! Not as much as in January and February but more than the past few weeks. Yesterday she had 17 ounces of milk from her bottles and 3 big meals of solids! Today she had 18 oz total from her bottles, plus what I add to her cereal brings us to 22 ounces for the day! And 2 big meals of solids (it was supposed to be 3 but we spent a lot of time getting Easter portraits taken today, so the last meal had to include her meat too and the cereal from the second). So over all Andrina had 22 ounces of milk, 2 servings of oatmeal with milk and bananas, two servings of fruit, one serving of vegetables, and one serving of baby food turkey tetrazzini which had grains and vegetables in it too. Oh, and of course, her baby multi-vitamin/iron supplement. I give that with her first serving of fruit for the day just in case she does not eat well on any given day. Mommy and Daddy are so happy you're eating better again!

Bad Auntie, Good Auntie

First, let me say that I "stole" this picture off of April's blog. It is from April's camera from our play date with the babes on Andrina's 8 month birthday two days ago. I didn't get any of Anne and Andrina facing the camera (bad Auntie). However, I did get about 3 to 5 minutes of video of our babies enjoying the swing together. Which I will burn a copy onto DVD for April too, preferably after Easter because I plan to bring the video camera to Easter dinner to get footage there too (good Auntie).

I have to say again that we had wonderful time! And Anne is starting to get over her shyness around me (does me bringing her presents almost every time I see her help???) We are going to HAVE to do this with the babes more often Auntie April!

Anne and Andrina

Can you tell who's the older cousin?

8 Months Old!

Happy 8 Month Old Birthday Andrina!

We enjoyed the day by going to the park with your cousin Anne and your Auntie April. For the records, your 8 month old stats are 16 pounds 11 ounces (29th percentile) and 26 and one-half inches long (46th percentile). Here's a whole bunch of pictures:

You are trying so hard to crawl...

and you keep getting up on your toes, but I have not gotten a picture of this. I'm just not fast enough with the camera...

Standing with some help

Ok, now can people tell that you're my daughter instead of everyone saying all the time how much you look like your daddy?

Andrina enjoying the nice early spring day...

in the swing

So happy and beautiful enjoying the swing!

A trip down the slide with some help from Anne and Auntie April

We had such a fun time today! We're going to be enjoying even more days outside as the weather gets nicer and nicer! Mommy loved taking you to the park and we're going to do that even more as you get bigger and bigger!

Decisions

Yesterday I read in a baby magazine that after a baby is 4 months old, you're supposed to take the bumper pad out of their crib because some babies have suffocated themselves with them. And of course I read this after I put Andrina to sleep for the night. And way after she turned 4 months old. So first thing this morning, after feeding her, I took her bumper pad out of her crib. Tom said he wasn't sure, that she may get her arm or leg stuck between the bars. Well, we decided to leave the bumper pad out of the crib anyways, since getting her arm or leg stuck between the bars is preferable to the other possibility. Well, this evening, she was having a hard time taking her nap and I was on my computer, right next to Andrina's room so I could hear her talking to herself and generally not going to sleep 45 minutes after I put her down. All of a sudden, she starts screaming. I ran in her room and sure enough, her little left ankle was stuck between the bars of the crib! ARRGH! My poor baby! She was crying so hard she had tears under her eyes. And she usually does not cry like that. Actually, she does not cry much at all. Andrina needed to be comforted after that. And I feel awful like I made the wrong decision to take her bumper pad out of her crib. So what is the right thing to do?

Sitting Pretty

Andrina is finally sitting up really well by herself. She's at the point where she can sit up on her own without toppling over and is able to pick up toys and play with them. Yea!

Andrina's watching a Baby Einstein DVD...

And playing too

Spitting

Okay, Andrina's newest thing with food is spitting it back out at me. Today, during lunch, she just "pppptttt" her cereal, her least favorite food, right out of her mouth and sprayed it all over me! Oh well, at least there was not too much of it flying at me! Although she seems to be doing a little bit better with milk. Now she seems to be getting a total of 15 to 16 ounces of milk a day, not including what I've added to her cereal. Unless, this spitting of the cereal becomes a regular occurance!

Good Morning

This is how Andrina greets me every morning! And I am so happy to see her too!

10 Ounces So Far...

As of noon today, Andrina has consumed 10 ounces of milk from her bottles. I hope she drinks at least one more six ounce bottle in addition to her two meals of solids. If she does, that will bring her milk intake to 20 ounces for the day, including the formula powder I add to her cereal that would make 4 ounces of the liquid. Please wish my baby luck to drink her milk!

Only 11.5 Ounces!

So after much trying and patience, Andrina's total of milk intake from her bottles for the ENTIRE day is--11.5 ounces! Uggh! She had two meals of solids on top of that and I did mix in enough formula powder to make 4 ounces into her cereal. But still, that is only a grand total of 15.5 ounces of milk for the whole day... I really hope she drinks more milk tomorrow. I'm going to call her doctor's office anyways. I'm sure she's totally fine but I want to check. Andrina is always happy and active as ever. She certainly looks and behaves like a baby who gets plenty to eat. And I give her those mulit-vitamin/iron drops too.

So Sad, So Mad!

This is the third day in a row that Andrina has been all-but refusing her milk. Yesterday she only had 17 ounces in her bottles over the whole day, on Sunday, she only had 15 ounces in her bottles! Thankfully, I give her a mulit-vitamin with iron supplement in her food and I add formula to her cereal. But still, if she was getting at least 20 ounces of milk from her bottles I'd feel better. Well, today she did it again. She was up at 4 am but only drank 1.5 ounces from her bottle. She went back to sleep and got up at 9 am but then only had 4.5 ounces from her bottle. Well, she did not want any milk after that either. I tried to get her to drink from her bottle at noon but she did not want any milk! She had to be hungry so I made her a meal of solids: oatmeal cereal mixed with bananas and enough formula powder to make 2 ozs of formula, carrots mixed with sweet potatoes, and pear-raspberry mixed with infant fruit-flavored vitamin/iron drops.

With a lot of patience, I got Andrina to eat half of ther bowl of cereal. Then she started refusing. So I switched over to the vegetables and fruit. Well, she was still not cooperating. Finally with much coaxing, pleading, begging and a TON of patience, she finally finished her meal after 30 minutes of this! Now, I do not force feed my baby. If she does not want to eat, that is usually ok. But after only a total of only 6 ounces of milk in over 12 hours, I needed her to eat! Andrina had to be hungry. So I kept trying. I made every funny sound and face I could think of to get her to eat her meal. And she was still upset. She even cried a little bit at one point (yet cheered up somewhat when I pulled out the camera...). But in the end I got her to eat her first meal of solids for the day.

Here's some pictures from this afternoon's mealtime that I am not looking forward to have to repeat ever again!

Look at those tears under her eyes! Yet she began smiling when I took out the camera!

This anger was in response to me wiping the food off of her face after she FINALLY finished her meal of solids!

Now she's just being silly that it's all over with.

After all this was over I figured that Andrina needed some emotional nourishement too. So we cuddled together and I held her, kissed her, and ticked her to make her laugh. We enjoyed some mommy-baby time until she needed a nap. Hopefully, she'll eat better for the rest of the day.

Super Smiles!

Is this not the happiest baby you've ever seen? OMG-look at those wonderful toothless smiles!