Celebrations

Today is Caitlin's three month birthday, which marks her transition from newborn to infant. Unfortunately, Caitlin is spending her big day with a stuffy nose and a little cough, but we still have plenty to celebrate. First and foremost, I celebrate our family surviving and adapting relatively well to life with baby. Nobody has reported us to DSS, our house is still standing (even though it's a little messy), and I even have managed to shower every day since Caitlin was born. Secondly-and more jubilantly-, I celebrate Caitlin. She has changed and grown so much during her first three months. When Caitlin first came home, she was little more than an adorable blob who slept, pooped, and ate all day and all night long. Although she still sleeps, poops, and eats plenty, she has much more to offer. Caitlin can now smile, laugh, babble, hold up her head, and roll onto her left and right sides. She goes to bed by 7:30 each night and is very close to sleeping through the night. During her waking hours, Caitlin is alert and notices all the excitement surrounding her, such as mom making oatmeal or watching bad daytime television. Caitlin's first three months have also brought many adventures, including a bridal shower, a wedding, a Halloween party, and countless shopping trips and errands. When I think of our first three months together I feel very proud of both my baby and myself. All in all, I think we've done pretty well. While Caitlin's sniffles may deter her partying, I think I may treat myself to a slice of cake tonight.

The Danger Zone

Once Caitlin was ready to use her infant tub, Matt and I came up with a nightly bath time routine. After dinner, Caitlin has a short date with Mr. Octopus, then we begin getting her ready for the bath. Matt preps Caitlin, which involves trying to pull her onesie over her head without eliciting screams and removing her diaper. Every night after Matt removes her diaper he lifts Caitlin high into the air, flies her around a bit, then slowly places her into the bathtub. For obvious reasons, I call this brief period of diaper-free time "The Danger Zone." I also like to sing Kenny Loggins's The Danger Zone while this is happening (you know the Top Gun theme song, Maverick and Goose flying around in fighter jets....). Anyway, last night as Caitlin entered The Danger Zone I said, "Look, Matt! She's smiling!" You know how people always say a baby's smile means they have gas? Sure enough, just as Matt lifted Caitlin high into the air, she did a giant poop which splattered all over the kitchen floor. This may be the first time I actually felt glad we haven't installed our hardwood floors yet. Fortunately for Matt, he held Caitlin away from his body, therefore he remained poop-free. Our floor, however, was a different story. The next thirty seconds was a frenzy of hysterical laughter, Matt saying, "What do I do? Where should I put her?" and me trying to quickly wipe the poop from the floor. Although we were doubled over laughing, we somehow managed to clean both the baby and the floor. Matt and I learned our lesson last night: Caitlin's time flying through The Danger Zone will be cut short, at least for now. Maverick is grounded.

Baby Love

I didn't think I would have to worry about this until she was much older, but Caitlin has fallen head over heels in love. While she has plenty of handsome baby boy suitors, Caitlin only has eyes for one-the octopus who is the centerpiece of her Baby Einstein activity mat. I have given him the highly original name of Mr. Octopus. Yes, Mr. Octopus has stolen Caitlin's heart-she is utterly and completely enamored of him. I am not entirely pleased that my two month old baby is involved in a romantic relationship. Furthermore, I find her taste highly questionable. First of all, Mr. Octopus has eight legs. Aren't two enough for her? Second, Mr. Octopus has terrible fashion sense. He wears a tiny white hat and white kerchief around his neck which I think are supposed to represent his nautical sensibilities. Personally, I think Mr. Octopus looks more like the Pillsbury Dough Boy or Chef Boyardee, but I would never say that to Caitlin. She obviously is pleased with his attire.

You may be thinking, how did this love affair begin? It didn't happen overnight. At first, Caitlin didn't really notice Mr. Octopus. For a while she favored the illuminated music box displayed on the side of her activity mat. Then one day she started looking up. Mr. Octopus has some accessories hanging from his eight legs, like an orange plastic fish and a little rattle. At first Caitlin would look at Mr. Octopus, then shyly turn away. After a couple of days, she started tentatively batting at his legs. Several days after that, she began smiling at Mr. Octopus and even aggressively grabbing at his orange fish. Now, she's in deep. When Caitlin looks at Mr. Octopus she squeals in delight, giggles, coos, smiles-all of the things she is supposed to do when she looks at me! Yes, I'm a little jealous of this eight legged sailor.

Fortunately, since Caitlin remains immobile I largely control their dates. If I find things are getting too intense, I immediately remove Caitlin from the activity mat. Sometimes we even leave the room. All of her dates are supervised-unless I need to squeeze in a quick shower (in which case I am actually quite grateful to Mr. Octopus for keeping her safely entertained). Are there wedding bells in their future? We'll see what happens when we break out the Exersacuer in a couple of months.

Itsy Bitsy Yoga

Last week, my momma friend Julie asked if I wanted to join her for a free baby yoga class at Destination Maternity in Natick. Julie's baby is seven months old, which made me a little hesitant to bring Caitlin. Mr. Seven Month Old is already sitting up, holding his head up high, rolling over-he's practically walking for goodness sakes! How could little two month old Caitlin keep up? Well, Julie talked to me into it and this morning Caitlin and I were on our way to Itsy Bitsy Yoga at 8:45 (which I think was a pretty great achievement in itself!)
After a little bit of traffic and a little bit of mom getting lost, Caitlin and I arrived in class two minutes late. I'd never been to a mom and baby class before and didn't really know what to expect. Would all the moms already be friends and wonder, "Who are the new kids?" What if Caitlin cries, or needs to nurse? When we entered the classroom I saw moms nursing openly, babies fussing and crying, and diapers being changed. I felt instantly relaxed in this safe, free to be you and me environment, so Caitlin and I sat on a yoga mat and got ready to work out.
You may wonder, how does a baby do yoga anyway? I wondered the same thing. I can barely manage a Downward Facing Dog, how is Caitlin going to do that? She can't even sit up without me holding her in a death grip. Well, the "exercises" were really more mom-based, such as mom pulling baby's legs, mom bouncing the baby on her lap, and mom swaying the baby from side to side. Nobody told me this was a work out class for mom, but no big deal. I need to get back into shape anyway!
About five minutes into class our Baby Yoga Master taught us some "poses" that aid digestion and calm an upset tummy. As the instructor said, "This pose may help a baby who has trouble going to the bathroom," my little yogi looked up at me, smiled, turned red, then unloaded a giant poop right on cue. The sound was so loud and lasted for such a long time that everybody in the class heard, not just the people sitting on either side. This was the kind of poop that caused us to go through not one, but two diapers and use about 27 wipes during the changing process. Thank goodness for the nurturing, safe environment I mentioned before. After changing her diaper, Caitlin went right back to some tummy poses quite happy and relaxed. We finished out the class without further incident and Caitlin thoroughly enjoyed her workout. I no longer have my doubts about baby yoga-it obviously works!

Happy Halloween!

Caitlin celebrated her first Halloween yesterday with family and friends. We had a busy day filled with pumpkin carving, candy eating (mostly done by myself, as Caitlin has no teeth), party going, and greeting trick or treaters. Caitlin dressed up in her adorable monkey costume. She tolerated the costume pretty well, probably because I dressed her up several times leading up to the big day. The highlight of Caitlin's first Halloween was a neighborhood party at our cousins' home. There were fifteen children under the age of three at the party, Caitlin being the youngest in attendance. As you can see from the pictures, Caitlin was the life of the party!