Sunday, December 26, 2010

Christmas with Aryn

Aryn's first Christmas was amazing. I couldn't have asked for any better - except that she be awake!!

Aryn turned 3 months on December 14 and it seemed to be in the middle of some sort of major development - and therefore from then until the 22nd, she was a real pill. She cried all the time, woke up countless times during the night, I could never make her happy, and all the while this was all happening during my work deadline so in between cries I was trying to call people back and send out work emails, etc. In short: I was at the end of my leash. There were tears and frustrated walk-outs and angry voices at God saying "WHY?!?!?!?!"

Then we had to go to Ryan's family's farm for Christmas. We left on Wednesday the 22nd and I gotta tell you: I was nervous. I didn't even want to go. I didn't want her crying all the time and everyone say to me "man, she cries a lot" because then I'd feel bad that they thought that about my beautiful daughter when I know there's more to her. I didn't want anyone to think she was anything other than perfection.

So we left in the morning right at the time of her first nap. She slept most of the way, with 2 wake-up cries that were quickly soothed with the insertion of that life-saver soother.

On that drive to the farm, something changed. For the next 4 days, Aryn was awesome. Smiles, coos, giggles, happy kicks, and instead of eating ever 2 hours, she ate every 3-4. I felt like a new woman. Oh and night sleep.... she slept AWESOME. In bed at about 8:30pm, up once at night to eat, and sleep again until 8:30am. On Christmas morning she slept until 9:30am (and incidentally missed present time!!)

It was awesome. I fell even more in love with Aryn during those 4 days than I ever thought possible. She.Was.Amazing.

Aryn, THANK YOU. You made this Christmas the best Christmas yet. I loved watching you get spoiled with books, Christmas ornaments, clothes, toys, and a few other things that I loved seeing you get. You are just so loved. I'm so happy to have you in my life and I can't wait for a million other Christmas' with you!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

In early December, my good friend Tiffany Matson of Tiffany Jade Photography took some photos of my baby girl in exchange for some infant clothing for Swaddle Share and they turned out amazingly. If you are in the Calgary area and need a photographer for weddings, pregnancy photos, baby photos or family photos, USE HER. She was amazing and here is some proof of how amazing she is!!!

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Thanks Tiff!!!! <3

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas from the Geremia's!!!

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(Sorry I didn't get around to mailing these out this year... time got away from me! And, I printed a whole bunch of these and they printed all blurry and I just never got around to re-printing them hahaha)

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

3 Months!

You are 3 months old today!! And I didn't even take any pictures... today you were babysat by Grammy ALL DAY so that mommy could do work. You did ok... I realized today just how much you cry/whine. And sleep. And eat. That's all you do. You cry because you're hungry and/or tired which is about 90% of the day.

But then you smile.

Ohh those smiles.

They're enough to make the meanest of mean's hearts melt. I.e., Bauer. He's a big grump. I think he's an old man at heart. But he sees you and he gives you kisses. Or... he's licking off the drool and milk that's splashed all over your face. But I choose to believe he's giving you love.

And now let's discuss sleep. Aryn. Last night you were up at 11:30pm. Then 2am. Then 4:30am. Then 6:30am. Then 8:30am. I fed you at the 11:30pm, 4:30am and 8:30am wakes. But come on. That's enough. The funniest of it is, is you wake up mostly because you squirmed so much that your arms got out of your swaddle and you are uncomfortable. You like your swaddle. And you like your squirming to get out of the swaddle. And do you know what else you like? Sucking on your hands. That's what wakes me up. The "shlirp shlirp shliiiirrrrppppp" that comes over the monitor. That is what I hear at random hours of the night. And it is comical. Then you cry bloody murder when I take your shlirped-on fingers away from you and re-swaddle them. Then BAM! You're asleep.

And today you ate every hour and a half to two hours. Yes, you may be going through - yet another! - growth spurt. But honey. Come on. Aryn. Come on.

Babycentre.ca told me today that a 3-month old should be sleeping the entire night. It even defined "entire night" as up to 12 hours of sleep. With no wakes. Umm..... when do you plan on doing this??

I can't lie though. Getting up at whatever hour of the night to go in your room, half asleep, cold, stuffed up (mommy is getting a cold!) - and you're in bed, shlirping on your fingers, with the biggest "GOOD MORNING!" grin. Your whole body smiles when you smile. Your face lights up, you squirm your entire body, you make "I LOVE YOU" coos and gurgles. You become the smile. And at 2am, 4:30am, 6:30am and finally 8:30am... those just-woke-up smiles are the best part of my day.

But let's work on the sleep thing. Please?

I never updated your weight last week!! On Thursday, Dec 9:
13 pounds 6.8 ounces
I will weigh you tomorrow.

3 months old. And I can't even remember a time before you were here. Mommy and daddy love you soooo much. And I can't wait to watch you grow. And I can't wait to see more smiles. And I can't wait to keep fighting with you to keep those hands out of your mouth. You are amazing and I love you soooo much.

I wonder if Bauer remembers a time before you... haha!

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Aryn Rolling Over!

So I finally got to witness Aryn rolling over. Ryan saw her, even Kurt and Kelly (friends of ours) saw her. But I always got to see the finished product. Every time I looked at her it was AFTER she rolled over.

But today, I got to witness it. She rolled over like 4 times in a row and we recorded one of them.

Here you go!!
PS. I'm fully aware she sounds ANGRY in this video... and she was... but it's funny none the less


Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Some Videos

Aryn and Bauer hanging out... November 8, 2010


Aryn talking up a storm... November 23, 2010


Auntie Shirley, Grammy and Aryn... November 29, 2010


Aryn rolling over... December 7, 2010

12 Weeks on the dot

ARYN ROLLED OVER!!!!!

I got it on videotape but the tape is so long I can't upload it hahahahahhaha

I'M SO PROUD OF HER!!!!!!!!!

Not even 3 months old... my kid is amazing!!!!

Monday, December 6, 2010

Aryn's Wrath

Tonight, my darling husband got to experience Aryn's wrath. You see, we needed groceries. Aryn had started being fussy at 6:30pm and I told Ryan I'll wait until she eats at around 7-7:30 then go. But Ryan was adamant that he could handle Aryn's fussiness so... I agreed. I left her in very capable hands, drove to No Frills and took my time picking the best apples, the more ripe oranges, and the greenest bananas (I like green bananas!).

30 minutes later, as I was backing out of the No Frills parking lot, I got "The Call." When your phone rings and you look down and see it's your house number, your heart leaps into your throat. You hold your breath and answer with a terrified "hellooo???"

No voice answers. All I hear is Aryn. Screaming-at-the-top-of-her-lungs-more-than-I've-ever-heard-before-EVER Aryn. Then a high pitched and extremely quick "AREYOUALMOSTHOMESHEHASN'TSTOPPEDCRYINGSINCEYOULEFT!!!"

"I'm on my way!!"

click

I walk into the house and there is silence. Aryn is doing her post scream breathing and whimpering. Her face is bright red, there are crocodile tears still lingering on her cheeks. Ryan hands her to me as quickly as he can, tells me he thought she was dying by how hard she was crying, then promptly walks into the garage to, as he says "grab the groceries," but it's quite clear he just needs to get away for a moment.

FYI, about 2 minutes after I get her she burps this huge burp then promptly fills her diaper with an aroma that not even a mother could stand. Aryn is suddenly happy, cooing and smiling.

I suspect Ryan was faking it.

Sunday, December 5, 2010

(Almost) 12 Weeks!

I haven't given an Aryn update for what feels like forever. Last week was just crazy - both in life and in Aryn changes!!! It's amazing how 1 week can make a total difference in a child.

Vitals Update:
Weight 12 pounds 14 3/4 ounces
Length 24.5"

So last Saturday (November 27th) my Aunt Shirley came in from Montreal. On Sunday we got Aryn dedicated at Hope Community Church. It was a beautiful service and Aryn behaved extremely well. She wore a super cute little dress, which I have to take new photos of and pretend they were from that day haha (Exhibit A).

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After the dedication we went to my parents house and hung out for the day with my Aunt Shirley. She SPOILED Aryn - again! Not only did she get us 2 Baby-Bjorn's when Aryn was born, but she got us a whole gift bag full of stuff - from adorable little outfits to silver plates with the engraving of all of her birth information. She got a beautiful frame with her name engraved on it, and a Baby's 1st Christmas ornament as well. So much amazing stuff in that gift bag. I can't even express how much I appreciate my aunt for doing all of that. She is amazing.

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By the way, you ALWAYS gave Auntie Shirley the BEST smiles. I mean, it was unbelievable. She looks at you, you grinned from ear to ear then buried your head in the shoulders of whoever was holding you and then you'd look right back at Auntie Shirley. It was awesome.

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On Monday my brother and Connie came down from Ottawa to meet Aryn. I haven't seen either of them for over a year, since they moved to Ottawa. I had to miss their wedding in August because I was 8 months pregnant and neither West Jet nor Air Canada would let me fly.

So Jon and Connie were here from Monday morning until Wednesday morning. It was a crazy busy few days and Aryn's somewhat-schedule I had created was totally off kilter - which meant for a somewhat cranky baby. However, those were the 3 BEST nights of sleep I have had yet - and since! We got some great photos and I'm so glad Ayrn's Uncle Jon and Aunt Connie got to meet her finally.

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So what else is new with miss Aryn...

- her cheeks are cleared up SO MUCH. I'm still not convinced it was a reaction to the almond oil, but either way, they still get red at night but they have never been as bad as that one night.

- she is thisclose to turning over. She rolls onto her side then flops back onto her back.

- Aryn is staying up longer in between feedings, but she hasn't slowed down her feeding. She's supposed to be eating 4-6 times a day, but she's still damn near 7-8 times a day. Honey, I know you'll read this one day but I gotta tell ya: mommy is EXHAUSTED. You wake up at least 2-3 times a night to eat, then you sleep for 20 minutes during the day and you fight me with feedings. You want to eat every 2 hours but when you do, you puke it ALL up within 5 minutes. I mean, ALL OF IT. There have been days I've gone through 17 burp cloths in 1 day. So I TRY to force you to eat every 3 hours and you fight me. I mean, yesterday I was holding you (when you haven't eaten for 2.5 hours) and you folded yourself up into a complete upside down V and screamed when you couldn't get through my shirt. It was friggen hilarious but you were NOT impressed. AND you're still trying to eat every 3-4 hours or so at night! You eat at 7pm, then you wake me up anytime from midnight - 2am to eat, then you're up 3-4 hours later, and then 3-4 hours after that. We've been friends off for a few days now.

- Your face has changed SO MUCH this past week. I mean, you don't even look like you did a week ago. You are changing daily and growing up, and I don't like it!! You're too big for some of your 3-6 month clothes now as well. Please stop growing. (then again, you're probably growing so much because you're eating SO MUCH) hahaha

What else.... oh I got in trouble for not doing very much tummy time with you. You hate tummy time. But you need it to strengthen your neck. But mommy has been so tired that she doesn't want to fight with you during tummy time. I know, BAD mommy!!!! But you are getting better at it and I'm so proud of you!! I hope you do learn to roll over and can hold your head up when you do.

I think that's it... you changed so much this week that I've forgotten a lot of it!! I love you soooooo much and I'm loving watching you grow up and change before my eyes!!!

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