So much love. The Family Decoded

Mama (Bop), Dada, Grandma (Ma'ma), Grandpa, Adele (Ada), Dog (Da), Dolly (Da), Ball, Bye Bye, Oink Oink, Neigh Neigh, Baa Baa (What sheep say, also refers to her toy sheep and her book of nursury rhymes which begins with Baa Baa blak sheep), Maa Maa (what goats say), cluck cluck, quack quack, meow, roar, up, down (dow), on, off, help, ick, oops, book (book-a-book-a), sock (ock), kitty (ki), turtle, bath (ba), gate (g), tickle (ticka), nummy (mmmanamy), water (wa), stay! (day), all gone, hat, hot, clock, bannana (nanna)

On September 8 at 6:01pm Henry David DeCoded joined our little family. It was a VERY fast birth. I started labor at noon on Tuesday, when I got to the hospital at 4:30, I was already 6cm and at zero station. An hour and a half later, I was pushing out my baby. Henry is healthy. He was 20.5 inches and 7lbs, 13oz when he was born, but he's already gained a pound and a half an inch. Amazing! So far, he's been a good eater, and he's been sleeping well, too. He's really good at lifting his head and looking around. It's an amazing new world and he has a lot of new things to see. Adele loves her little brother, and thinks he's hilarious. She's learning how to be a helper for her Mommy and Daddy, and we're all learning how to live with two little pumpkins in the house. So far it's been complicated coordinating sleep schedules, but we're doing great. Special thanks to Grandmas, Grandpas, friends and family members who have helped us in the last week. We really appreciate it!

Today Adele is one year old.  In some ways, I can't believe it's only been a year since I was holding my brand new baby at the hospital, but in others it seems like she has been with us our whole lives.  She is a blessing to us every day.  Adele, we love you so much!

For her birthday, Adele is showing how big she is by making new progress with her walking skills.  She's been walking short distances all day, from 10-15 steps in a row.  She also is working on two molars on her left side.  What a trooper! 

Today Adele took four steps, all by herself. She has been getting proficient at standing unassisted, to the point where she can stand and clap or wave her hands. Over the weekend she took her first step, with full intent on moving forward (as opposed to an accidental shuffle, which she has done before). Today she was playing in the TV room. I was sitting on the couch watching her. She was about three feet from me when she stood up and looked at me. I smiled, reached out my hands and said, "Come to mama?" She grinned back at me and took four steps towards me, right in a row. Then she sat down. I was so excited. I picked her up, praised her, and kissed her face. Adele loves praise. She was so pleased that she did something amazing. So will she be walking with confidence by her birthday (2.5 weeks away)? We shall see.

Today, when Adele woke up from her nap I brought her downstairs to the kitchen to have a little milk. After she had a few sips, she sat up straight and pointed to my hat which was sitting on the counter. "At!" She said. It took me a minute to realize that she had just said a recognizable word. Then she did it again. "At!" I was so proud. I gave her a big kiss and her Daddy gave her the hat. It is the first word that she has said beyond "dada", and "bopbop", her names for her daddy and mommy.

On Sunday Adele joined the Body of Christ in baptism. She was baptised at Assumption Church in St. Paul by Father Steve O'Gara. Our family gathered before the mass and we all sat together in the center row. Adele was a perfect Angel through the whole mass even though it was right in the middle of lunch time. It helped that no matter where she looked, she saw familiar faces smiling at her, and that little Rosie was there to entertain her throughout the entire service. After mass we gathered at the front of the church for the baptism. Adele enjoyed watching her cousins play at the priest's feet while he read the ceremony. She didn't cry when he poured the water over her head--it was too much like bathtime, her favorite. When her Godmother Katie put the ceremonial white robe over her head, Adele thought it was hilarious and blessed us all with a huge smile. Afterwards we celebrated at our house with a light lunch. It was a gorgeous day outside, and everybody had a chance to enjoy some sun and good company. We were joined later by friends, and the party lasted late into the night, long after Adele had made her way to bed. In all, it was a beautiful Christening, and we are thankful to everybody that was able to come.

Adele is crawling.  For a while there, I thought she might skip it entirely and go straight to walking.  She has been pulling herself up for a while now, and a couple of weeks ago she learned how to cruise (walk holding onto furniture).  But cruising is insufficient when you want to get somewhere accross the room and no furniture can help you, so Adele mastered the art of crawling.  It's really cute when she does it because she sort of sits on her ankles as she goes.  Grandma Jenni witnessed the crawling for the first time today, and said that in just a couple of weeks, she'll be zipping around the house.  I believe her.  Now it's really time to secure those cupboards and take care of the outlets.  I can't put it off any longer.

In other news, Adele has named me "Bob".  She's still not making the "m" sound, but "bob", "bub" and "bop" are some of her favorite words, and she seems to say "Bob" when she is looking or pointing at me.  I guess it's kind of like "Mom", especially if you have a cold.

Also, Little Pumpkin, as we call the new baby, is doing well.  He kicks and rolls around all the time, to remind me that he's there. 

We had our ultrasound for baby #2 on Thursday.  We're going to have a boy!  He seems to be healthy and is scheduled to be born on September 4.  We can't wait to meet him.

Can you believe it, Adele is sleeping through the night.  Just last week she was waking me up every hour and a half to nurse.  We finally got her nursery set up, and we decided to move her out of our bed and into her crib and wean her from night nursing at the same time.  I was expecting at least two nights of straight crying, and maybe two weeks of little sleep, but it didn't turn out that way at all. 

The first night, I followed our bedtime routine until she was almost asleep, then I put her in her crib, sang her a song, and said good night.  I was prepared to go in there a few more times to calm her down, but she only cried for five minutes and then she was asleep.  She slept for a few hours, and woke up at 1:00.  That was the hardest part; she cried for about an hour.  I went in to stroke her head and tell her I love her at 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 15, minutes, but before I was able to go in for the 20 minute mark, she was asleep.  Then she woke up again at 2:30 and 5:30, but she only cried for 15 minutes.  And then she slept until 7:30. 

The next night she fell asleep after 15 minutes of crying, and slept until 5:30.  I decided I wouldn't nurse her until the sun came up, so she went back to sleep and woke up again at 6:30.  And that was it.  Since then, she's been going to bed around 9:30 and waking up at 7:30.  What a good girl!  She must have been really ready to have her own space.  I wasn't the only one that was sleep deprived around here.  And now we are both sleeping better.  I wish we'd done this months ago!

We just returned from our ten day trip to Jamaica.  We went to the same resort we've been visiting for years, but it was very different to experience the vacation with a baby.   Ususally when we go there, we spend the mornings relaxing and swimming at the beach because by afternoon it is often too windy to do much swimming.  With Adele, we had a hard time getting out for our morning swim because of morning nap time.  Then we ended up getting some really windy weather, so swimming at all was out of the question. 

So what is a Jamaican vacation without swimming?  We spent our days relaxing at our villa, which had huge windows that looked right onto the water, and a sunny courtyard that was protected from the wind.  We made good use of our stroller, walking to the main beach and to the fisherman's beach outside the resort's complex. Adele became very comfortable in the stroller, and by the end of the week she was sitting up straight at the edge of the seat, looking around and enjoying the view.  She even became accostomed to the wind and I think she even began to like it.  There was a swing set next to the patio on the main beach, and Adele had her first experience in a swing, which she loved.  She loved it when we pushed her feet, so that with each push she'd get a little tickle.  Adele also enjoyed experiencing carribean fruit.  She got a little fruit treat every day, and now I think she still expects it, even though we are home.  Adele would go to sleep for the night at eight, and then David and I would get a chance to enjoy eachother's company, or the company of my sister and her husband, who were with us.  We would sit in our villa with the windows open and listen to the sound of the surf. 

Another important note about the vacation is that our family was not alone.  We traveled with my sister, her husband, and Adele's cousins.  Charlie and Rose are 4 and 2, respectively, and Adele loved spending every minute with them.  She loved to watch them play, and when they came close she would try to grab their noses.  It was a little taste of what having siblings would be like for her.  I'm going to try to bring her to their house more often now, so that she can have more chances to enjoy their company.

In all it was a lovely vacation.  As always, I was sorry to go and I can't wait to go back.