Two whole years

I know that the title of this blog is "Adventures of Annika" and it's indulgent of me to commandeer her blog for my selfish purposes, but hopefully she will understand.

Today, Chris and I have been married for two years. Since we dated a while before that, it feels much longer, but even longer than that really. But in a good way...not in a "man, this has been dragging!" sort of way.

Chris is the best. Such a short, simple word for how to describe it. There are others though - generous, smart, capable, kind, funny, handsome, sweet...every day he amazes me by adding another attribute to the list, and every day I thank God that he's in my life and agreed to be my husband.

Beyond husband, Chris is so far, a pretty damn good father. He's patient with Annika, loves to make faces at her, coos back at her when she's trying to talk, laughs with her when she discovers something new. I never doubted for a moment that Chris would be an amazing father, but to actually see them together fills my heart up in ways I never thought possible.

Happy anniversary, sweetie. You are the light of my life and I am more in love with you every single day. I can't wait for what tomorrow brings!

First ever

It seems a little weird, but our friend Carol sent us and took the only exisiting pictures of the three of us -

Kid's Day

When I was about 9 or 10, I was a little nervous about the upcoming Mother's and Father's Day one/two punch. It's not like money grows on trees when you're 10! Plus, there's the whole spectacle of being *nice* to your respective mother and father on those days. Breakfast in bed, dinner of *their* choice, cards, homemade ash trays...it was a little off-putting.

I recall being "off-put" and saying to my father, "Why isn't there is a Kid's Day???"

And I remember this clear as day, and I have to say to my Daddy - I totally get what you were saying now.

He answered, "Because every day is Kid's Day."

Amen.

Thanks Grandma & Grandpa!

Yesterday, I was separated from my precious baby girl for the longest time ever. Our anniversary is this Wednesday, and Chris's parents graciously agreed to watch Annika while Chris and I saw a movie and ate out. Chris rightfully stated that dinner and a movie was "cheesy" but I came to the startling conclusion a few months ago that we'll never be able to see a movie in a theater again. (Ok, maybe that statement is a little dramatic). The point being that going out to the movies is a big treat for new parents! We are so grateful that we got to go out.

The plan was relatively simple - feed baby, go to movie, come home in between, feed baby, then go out to dinner. It worked out really well and Annika was an angel for her grandparents (though I doubt they would tell us otherwise). Though I think she's decided she likes them better than me since as soon as I started holding her she started crying. Hmmmm....




Picture of Annika in new Bouncy Chair which continues to prove indispensible. She is also learning to touch things on purpose! Such as ugly purple plastic butterfly on Bouncy Chair toy bar, Daddy's goatee and caterpillar rattle on changing table. Bravo, Annika. Bravo.

She speaks!

In the last few weeks, Annika has been talking more and more...not necessarily a recognized language, but she is good with her "oohs" "ahhs" and "ehs." She usually talks when she's in a good mood and usually when someone is interacting with her or is she's trying to get someone's attention.

Now, I have thought this was all cool in itself, but last night, she talked to Chris! She was in her new bouncy chair, and she would say "ooh" and he would repeat and say "ooh" and she would say "ooh" and so on...she was responding to him! I know it sounds small, but I was so impressed at her interest in communicating. And a little bitter that she decided that chatting with Daddy was the way to go...



Also, Annika had several visitors yesterday. Newly-married Carol Yang whom I went to high school with was in the area for a wedding and stopped by. They got on quite famously. And Uncle Tony also stopped by with a new friend and Annika sat in her bouncy chair while we enjoyed Thai food. If I knew the bouncy chair was going to be this magical, I would have shelled out my $29.99 much earlier.

Bouncy Chair

I had kind of been in denial about bouncy chairs. Thought they weren't necessary, but more importantly - thought they were all crazy ugly and really didn't want to further impair the landscape of my living room.

However, I am pleased to announce that Annika now boasts a bouncy chair as one of her many assets. She's sitting in it right now, and I'd post a picture if I could find the stupid camera.

Oh yes - it's ugly - but sometimes, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em.

Irony

Beauty in the eye of the mommy

I swear, I think my daughter is the most beautiful thing on the planet. Even when she is wailing (she just went through a spell a hour ago) I look at her face and think "wow - she is so gorgeous!"

I know that all mothers must think this. As Chris reminds me time and time again - I was not the prettiest baby - but my mother confirms she thought I was gorgeous, too. But come on - Annika REALLY is!
So since she's all gorgeous and stuff, I figure that she doesn't *have* to be smart. Like, if you're one or the other, you can get by pretty well at life. Plus, since she already has "pretty" taken care of, if she actually turns out to be the genius we all secretly know she will be, then she'll be *double* set! The sky's the limit, baby! No pressure!

"Your 7-week old"

According to Babycenter.com, Annika should be this far along in her developmental cycle:

"Your baby's head is fairly steady now and she's able to exercise more motor control over her feet and hands instead of just swinging them wildly. To see this new skill in action, hold a toy or rattle up in front of your baby and watch her grab for it. Don't forget to cheer her when she gets it. She'll thrive on your encouragement for the rest of her life!"

I don't see it saying anywhere that flashing gang signs is a normal part of a 7-week old's development?

Annika's head *is* fairly steady - which is great. She looks so old! But I will say she's still a pro at flailing. And grabbing things? Well, if flailing wildly and then connecting with objects counts...then cool! Just kidding - she actually can grab/hit a few things if she feels like it. "Feeling like it" is the key. Is she our daughter or what?

Pukey McPuke

The Hakes family had plans yesterday - big plans! Well, we were supposed to go to a birthday BBQ for a friend, but unfortunately Miss Annika was a little sick.

After a rather large meal, Annika decided to regurgitate said meal as she was still eating. Cool! Then about 4 more times, she puked and puked and puked.

Now, the good news is that she was in pretty good spirits - not any more or less fussy than usual. And the other good news is that she completely covered yet another new shirt of mine - I think she's 3 for 3! I think I should start shopping at Goodwill to trick her puke.

Long story short, we didn't make it to the BBQ, and she was up quite a bit last night. But her puking has lessened a bit - not gone, but not 4 times after one feeding session either. We'll likely call the Kaiser advice nurse tonight just to make sure all is well.

Is that legal?

I know this blog is filled with way too many stories about poopie, but this is a good one! Well, not really.

We went to Costco today, with mostly good vibes. Annika was looking adorable in an outfit Mommy picked out, and Chris carried her around in the Baby Bjorn. About 10 minutes into the trek, Chris asked me to feel her butt - he thought it might be wet. Though it felt damp, I wasn't convinced, so we carried on.

Mommy needed lunch after Costco, so we headed over to Subway (if Jarod can do it, so can Jenn!). While ordering my Italian B.M.T., Chris came in with Annika and asked me to feel her butt AGAIN. This time, it wasn't damp - it was wet.

He then proceeded to change her ON ONE OF THE RESTAURANT TABLES. Now, I realize that Subway isn't really considered a "restaurant" but I believe they do have cleanliness laws to follow. In his defense, Chris thought it would be a pee-pee diaper, and we'd be on our way...however, it was MAD POOPIE, and soaked through her shorts and her onesie. In addition, it was up her back. (I know...so many poopie stories...but if you're looking to avoid them, you're reading the wrong blog).

So then he had to really wash her and change her on the table in grand view of all the Subway patrons (like, 2). But still! I was pretty horrified and embarrassed, but we hurried along and were never asked to pay a toll or anything, so I guess it was ok. I'm not going to that Subway again, FYI.

She's clean now, you'll all be happy to hear...

Busy day

More to come, but we had a busy day today! Mandy came over with baby Travis whom we met for the first time - an absolute angel. Lisa and Nico also joined the fun. I served Lemon Chicken Parmesean Salad - a recipe I made up myself! I was trying to prove that I'm now officially domesticated.

Of course, my daughter had different plans. Two sweet babies sit quietly with their mommies. One baby wails....guess which one! Actually, she wasn't too bad...but her lungs certainly made their presence known a few times.

However, I did discover that her enjoyment of the swing at Lisa's house wasn't a fluke - AND she doesn't always poop on swings. Proof here - ignore devil red eye:

Neck kink

My new breastfeeding injury is a neck kink. Ouch! Am I supposed to put heat or cold on it? Right now I'm taking 600mg of Motrin. (Don't worry - I'm not a junkie; it was prescribed). Unfortunately this puppy doesn't get too affected by the sweet, sweet drugs. (Seriously - not a junkie).

Cause of neck kink ------------>

Babysitting, Part Deux

Today, Annika spent the day with Lisa and her Mom, Jean. Thank goodness there were two of them!

While I was at a doctor's appointment (scheduled for 11:30 and actually let into the exam room at 12 noon), Lisa and Jean apparently had a lovely time watching Annika. At least for the first hour.

From what I understand, my little "angel" was an angel at the beginning - having just been fed, she was happy and active - maybe a little pukey, but not crying. Such a win! She went to sleep soundly in Nico's swing and took a nice, long nap.

She awoke screaming, screaming, screaming...and as Lisa and Jean took Annika out of the swing to discover....she was covered in her own poo. The poo was on her clothes, on her body and on the swing (which has been used about 4 times total in its lifetime...)

Lisa and Jean defltly cleaned a screaming Annika and after they changed and cleaned her, they set out to feed her with the bottle I left behind. But she wasn't interested - only interested in screaming, screaming, screaming.

I arrived just in time - to find a fairly happy Annika on Jean's shoulder - though she was quite ready to eat. I fed her the bottle and she was pretty happy for the rest of her time there!

Now, does anyone know how to replace the cushion on a Graco swing???

I have no pictures from this drama day, but I do have a nice one of Nico and Annika -

Babysitting

I baby-sat both Annika and Nico today for an hour - and they both lived to tell about it! Now, I'll be the first to admit I got super lucky, but by the time Lisa returned, they were both asleep and I was eating fruit cocktail! I have the magic touch! Now only if said magic touch existed at 4 in the morning...

To remind everyone - Nico is 6 days younger than Annika - so seriously, this was quite a feat!

Here is Nico and Annika enjoying their day together:

Tomorrow, Lisa baby-sits both of them again. We both had doctor's appointments this week - hence the babysitting. Otherwise, would we do this? Heck no; it's just too cruel.

Mommies

One of the neatest things I've come across as a new mom is learning stuff from other new moms. It seems obvious, but sharing tips and ideas and how cool our babies are is a lot of fun - and educational!

For example, my pal Lisa (Mommy of Nico Negrete) showed me the joys of the side-lying position. My daughter finally got the hang of it last night and this morning, and it rocked!

My pal Tamara has also saved my life on several occasions. She was the very first person I told I was pregnant (after Chris, of course) because she happened to tell me about her pregnancy in an email, and I needed to spill! Since then we've traded stories on our pregnancies and babies (hers is Lydia Elaine and adorable) and her experiences on more than occasion have helped me relax about my own. I would go into detail, but Tamara and I are very frank and not sure she'd be into me telling the world about our war stories. But rest assured - she's been the best!

And then there's my friend Mandy who gave birth to Travis a day before I gave birth to Annika. He is visiting us on Friday and can't wait to share more stories. :) What's amazing about the Knotts family is that they sent us flowers for Annika's birth - when Travis was born a day earlier! Is that crazy or what? The Knotts are the supportive type - you know; the kind that remember anniversaries (thanks for the card, Mandy) and birthdays. They're the kind of family that make you feel bad about your own lack of being able to get it together.

Can't do a post without my beautiful daughter's face... "Solid."

Pretty pictures

One of our best friends, Karolyn Pelka, has a beautiful and talented sister-in-law named Valarie. Said sister-in-law is talented in more ways than one, I'm sure, but I can attest to her photography abilities. At the end of last month, Valarie and Karolyn came all the way from Folsom, CA to take pictures of Annika and her best friend Nico Negrete - free of charge because she luuvvvs us!

We just got the pictures and they are awesome - here is a few to entertain you. I'll be sure to post more as the weeks drag on....

On my own again...

Chris went back to work today, much to the chagrin of his daughter and myself. Never underestimate double-teaming!

Last night, Annika slept about 3 hours, and I slept about 2.5. I think a part of her knew Daddy was leaving us today. But someone has to bring home the bacon and the play mats!

A simpler time:

In other news, I am wearing a new shirt today; and yes - Annika spit up on it. Never fails!

When Animals Attack!

Myths of Motherhood

My vast motherhood experience has led me to come to a conclusion...there are a number of "myths" to this motherhood business, and it's about time that someone expose them!

- Clothes labeled "0-3 months" actually fit babies that are 0-3 months. Hogwash! My daughter was born at 8 pounds, 1 ounce, and our fancy going-home-from-the-hospital outfit said "5-7 pounds." She swam in that thing!

You can't tell in the picture to the right, but trust me.

- Breast is best! OK, that may actually be true, but this "breast is best" campaign really leads you to believe that not only is it the best, but it's easy too. Hogwash! I just read a book by a well-known author, "Little Earthquakes" about new mothers. Each mother in this book has breastfeeding emergencies or difficulties. That is real life, people.

- Babies sleep "like babies." Maybe that's not so much a myth as an extremely inaccurate colloquial saying. Annika is the dearest, most precious thing in the world, but her sleep patterns are maddening and most of the time, she doesn't sleep longer than a half-hour. And, she also has a tendency to get woken up by clinging plates and eating utensils. So yeah, we rarely eat without a shift system.

- Cribs are "baby jail." Annika happens to like her baby jail - and that jail cost us a lot of money; so it better be a myth.

- Once babies get to sleep with their parents, they'll never want to leave. It may be that we smell bad, that she's only 6 weeks old and still has no idea who we are, or that our room doesn't have a cool mural - but Annika has no interest in sleeping with us. There have been quite a few nights when we've been happy to give up on our anti-family bed sentiment just to get her and us some rest, but no dice.

I'm pretty sure I have more of these...but Chris needs to be entertained while Annika sleeps for the next four minutes. Later!

Grandma Visits

Grandma Myr visited this afternoon. Annika loves all her grandparents - always on her best behavior. Grandparents always get the good stuff. (Though I just heard Chris said he got a smile from her...where are my smiles???)

She was a very good girl today. After Grandma left, we visited two of Chris's aunts who oohed and ahhed over her...She impressed them with her ability to ooh and ahh back...and to follow them with her eyes and generally be engaged.

The thing is, she's already a genius. Obviously.

Testing...1,2,3

This will be a boring post - this is the first time I've tried to use the iMac on this blog. If this works, it's great since all the recent pictures are on the Mac.

See for yourself:

Milestones

I get a lot of questions about what Annika's "latest thing" is. Example: Is she holding up her head? Yes, yes she is...but all the time? Well, I don't think so - her head is heavy (15 inches in circumference, you know). Does she do anything else?

Uh, not really. She's not even six weeks old! But as a parent, you feel a pressure to come up with something new, fantastic and smart that she is doing. I have an arsenal of things that she "does" when these questions come up - here are a sampling:

- She lays on her back really well - occassionally she turns her head from side to side to look at things!
- She is able to get her arms out of her swaddle in less than a minute. We call her Houdini.
- Annika likes music. If the music runs out on her playmat (I think it plays for about 10 minutes) she gets pissed.
- She appears to be smiling more and more...or at least making an effort to smile. We might need a third party's opinion on what constitutes a smile...

So those are exmaples. Are they exciting? Well, they are to us...but Annika's fans seem a little disappointed when this is what I report. These are my back-ups in case the above disappoints:

- She said "Mama, can I please have some more breastmilk?" Isn't that amazing?!
- She took her first step from the coffee table to the playmat! It hasn't happened since, but it's only a matter of days before she's ready to drive.
- She sewed her own dress!
- She made a donation to the Red Cross!

Annika is amazing enough - she doesn't really need the second batch of accomplishments. At least not at 5.5 weeks. The Red Cross is a noble cause though - what a nice girl!

Second Post

Promise to not name every post "first, second, forty-eighth..." But I'm not feeling particularly creative. Especially when I haven't sent anyone this link yet, so no one's reading this. Maybe that should make me feel more creative?

Annika has a new nighttime schedule - she has a new one every two days, so this isn't really a shock, but is worth reporting. She now sleeps her 5/6 -hour shift from 11 - 4. So up I am at 4 a.m., and back asleep by 5:30. And then up again at 7/8. My fave schedule of hers was the 12 - 6/7...those were good times.

First Post

The "user friendliness" of the Annika site is decreasing. Free blog to the rescue!

More to come...

Publishing the above ultrasound photo because it's such an accurate likeness of her cutie nose. Check it out: