Life lately

It's been a couple of weeks since I've blogged, for no reason other than life has been busy! We have had a nice couple of weeks, we celebrated Father's Day, our niece's graduation, and both my mom and my mother-in-law's birthdays. We were hoping June would also be Ben's birthday but it's looking like he wants to hold out and be a July baby. Poor Sandy is DONE and is hoping he will make his grand entrance into the world soon! 

Gabriella is doing well! She is sleeping through the night; I hate to jinx it but for the past couple of weeks she's consistently gone to bed by 7:30/8:00 and slept until 7am. It 's been a nice change and we are enjoying her early nights because we know that at some point, it will change again.

Our physical therapist has been working with us not only on Gabriella learning to sit and crawl, but on eating foods that have a bit more texture to them. She suggested that we use an infant "toothbrush", which is really a covering for your finger that has hard bristles on it, and gently rub her back gums, where her molars will eventually come in. This encourages her to bite down with her molars and begin chewing instead of just swallowing purees. It has worked really well and she is now very comfortable chewing puffs, especially when we place them between her back gums. I also am slowly pureeing some of her foods a little less so they have a few more lumps. Today she had cottage cheese with fruit for lunch and did really well with it. Some of the cheese lumps were a little big for her, but overall she did a lot better than I thought she would!

She has also become very, very interested in animals and other children. The poor cat gets grabbed, hugged, pulled, but she's a good sport about it. I actually think she likes the attention. I am sure the day will eventually come when Gabriella is carrying her down the hallway. Today, we went to the public library's baby music class and she loved it. The other kids varied in age from about her age up to age 2 and she was loving all of them. It was so fun to see her with other children, she was interactive, noisy and really into the class so I'll have to go more often. She's currently napping really well (going on an hour!!) so I think it tires her out as well.

Figuring out the sippy cup

We are working on being gently with babies... poor Ben doesn't know what he's in for

First Sox cap from Grampy

Sleeps exactly like Gianni

Apparently she decided that she can arch back and reach her doll

We hope everyone has a fun and safe holiday weekend! Hopefully we'll be meeting our nephew very soon!!! 

xo,
Mary

8 months old!

Yesterday marked Gabriella's 8 month birthday! Time is flying by and our little baby is getting bigger each week and is constantly learning new things.

And as always, a look back on how much she's grown!

Month 7 brought hair, chubby thighs, rolling over, sitting for short periods of time, and a big personality!  When Gabriella doesn't want to do something, she makes it known....

No, I do not want to pose for a photo

I would like to throw this toy at you and your camera

No, do not change me

No, I don't like this sailor dress

But, along with these moments came a lot of laughs. Gabriella can be so silly, laughing so much more now, making silly faces and giving us the best smiles. She babbles away, yelling at times, and now enjoys the ever popular game of "I will throw all of my toys on the ground and yell until Mom or Dad picks them up."

She is eating 3 meals a day and 4 6-7 ounce bottles a day. For breakfast she typically has oatmeal and fruit, lunch she has yogurt and fruit/vegetable, and dinner she has a few vegetables and sometimes some oatmeal. Her food is still pureed but we will see if she can handle a bit more texture this month.

This month she loves:
-Food! She watches people eat and tries to hit and grab plates
-Faces, especially if she can grab hold of your nose, ears, or lips. And if you are a man with a beard, watch out!
-Hair. Or more accurately, taking hold of chunks of hair and pulling as hard as she can. She gave her Grampy a small bald spot today with her killer pull. Gianni's arm hair has also been victim to her claws.
-Rolling over. Last night she was up for almost 2 hours, rolling around in her crib and then yelling out for help when she got "stuck" in a corner.
-Animals. She absolutely loves animals and the animals that don't mind when she grabs their hair are even better!

Every week brings a new adventure with this little girl and we love it! Having a baby truly is a wild ride, they keep you on your toes and just when you think you have them all figured out, everything changes!

xo,
Mary

Showering Sandy

On Saturday we held a baby shower for Sandy! It was so fun to spoil her and celebrate the upcoming arrival of baby Benjamin. The weather was absolutely perfect and the company was even better.  She and Thierry chose a blue, green, and gray nautical theme for the nursery so we carried that through to the shower. They received a wonderful assortment of fun, practical, and adorable gifts! For anyone out there who thinks that there are not as many cute boy clothes out there, I promise you, you are wrong! Poor Gabriella may end up getting dressed up in little boy anchor overalls to match Benjamin because they are just that cute :)

Sandy looks absolutely amazing and we are all anxious to meet little Ben. Having a boy and girl in the family who are just a few months apart is going to be so fun! I am already thinking ahead to Christmas, beach trips, and everything in between. I also figure that I have about 3 years to buy them coordinating outfits before one of them throws a tantrum, so believe me, these poor kids are going to be coordinating whenever possible!!

Gabriella had the perfect sailor dress for the occasion, but unfortunately most of you never saw it on her. She has entered the phase of everything in her mouth which often leads to her gagging herself and then spitting up so the cute dress was sadly in the laundry before the party started. I think she had 3 outfit changes throughout the day, apparently she didn't get the memo that hosting a shower is not the same as hosting a celebrity awards show... costume changes are not necessary :)

Sick of the photo session...

Sandy and Thierry, we are thrilled for you and can't not wait to spoil your little man!!  We love you and know you are going to be amazing parents!!

xo,
Mary

Happy Birthday!!

Happy Birthday Gianni!!  You are a wonderful husband, partner, friend, and Dad. You work so hard for me and Gabriella and we can't thank you enough. We are crazy about you and wish you a great day and another fabulous year!! 

xo,
Mary

Sitting!

Today Gabriella sat up, completely unassisted for the first time! She had been able to hold herself up for a few seconds and then today, just like that, she held herself up for several minutes. It was like it just clicked; she used her hands and arms to balance herself and was so proud of herself. Last week, her physical therapist told us to put a pillow in front of her, on her lap and place her toys on top of the pillow to encourage her to sit up a bit more. That trick definitely worked!!

I am one proud mom!!! 

Last week, we had a reunion playdate with one of our favorite families from the NICU.  On the morning Gabriella was born, another micropreemie was transported to CCMC from another area hospital. A few days later, he was moved into the crib space next to Gabriella and we were so lucky to have them as our neighbors. I often think about how lucky we were to be surrounded by so many wonderful families during our stay there. We've stayed in touch with many and love seeing how well the babies are doing!

We love Ethan!! He is truly one of the strongest people in the world!

On Friday evening, our niece and Gabriella's oldest cousin had her senior prom. She looked absolutely beautiful!!  It brought back so many memories of our prom!  Seems like just yesterday... or a few (many) years :)

The rest of the weekend we had swimming lessons, a barbeque and lots of fun and relaxation. This week we are getting ready for Sandy's baby shower and Gianni's birthday!! Fun week ahead!!

Happy Monday!!
xo,
Mary