Slacking on the monthly posts!

Hi my favourite Kiyomi-bear!

Mama has been slacking on your 11-month post.  I'm trying to process the fact that you are almost a YEAR old, but mostly I'm in denial and have been trying to avoid thinking about it at all.  Having to go back to work in September makes me think about how much I'll miss all our fun times together.  And my goodness, do we have some fun times now!

It's hard to believe you're even the same person from my last post!  You're really communicating a lot now.  You sign for milk consistently, and also do lots of fun actions.  We read you Eric Carle's From Head to Toe, and you do actions for the gorilla (thumping on your chest), monkey (waving your arms), crocodile (wiggling your body), cat (bending your back), seal (clapping your hands), and you used to scrunch your shoulders for the buffalo, but seem to have forgotten about it.  You point consistently and like to direct us around the house.  You understand TONS of words and can point to lots of different objects like lights, clocks, your head, and flowers. 

You're also speeding around walking (still holding our hands), and can also walk holding just one of our hands.  You stand by yourself now, until you notice you're not holding anything, at which point you do a slow squat so you don't fall.  It's adorable to watch!  You love to sit and stand in your crib now, so we've lowered it as far as it will go.  Physically, you seem really strong, although you're still not into the crawling thing.  It's the same commando-drag from last month, although you're much faster now!  Mama appreciates that you clean the floors with your belly.  :)

We go to the park or out for a walk almost daily, and you now love the splash pad!  The streams of water really fascinate you, and you usually charm the other children who play there.  You're getting so interactive, and you'll follow them around, or try to grab toys from them.  You're generally quite friendly and will wave (and say), "Hi" and "Bye", although you have giggles of delight when you see someone you really like.  You also LOVE animals!  There are tons of squeals of joy whenever you see a cat or a dog, and you will pet them fearlessly.  One of your favourite things to do at the Osakabe house is chase the cats to try to pet them.  They usually manage to escape, but I think once you really start walking, they'll have to find a place to hide.  You are also great at giving your stuffed animals hugs and get quite excited to play with them in the mornings.

In terms of your schedule, you're still taking 2 naps at around 10am and 3pm, and occasionally sleep through the night without waking up for a feed.  You're a solid 12-13 hour sleeper overnight, which is nice for mama and papa.  You eat lots of snacks and meals during the day, although you're still not really a fan of vegetables.  I think your favourite foods are berries, apples, bananas and cheese.  Oh, and all those carb-y type snacks like puffs and cookies.  One of the slightly more annoying things you have learned to do is to push food out of your mouth.  Until this month, if we could get it into your mouth, you would eat it.  Now, however, you open your mouth just a tiny bit, stick out your tongue to taste the new food, and then allow us to put it in your mouth.  If it meets your approval, it stays.  Otherwise, it is immediately rejected and wiped away by a swipe of your hand.  You also have no qualms about tossing food over the side of your seat if you are no longer interested in it.  I guess that's the most efficient way of getting rid of it, but mama has had to wipe floors a LOT.  And even with the wiping, you manage to find every speck of dust to put it in your mouth. 

One of the cutest things we taught you to do this month was to say, "Hello", on the telephone.  Once you mastered it, mama immediately called everyone she knew and had you say it into the phone.  Your voice is so high and adorable.  We really love to listen to you babble to yourself.

Mama and papa pray for you every night.  We know the most loving thing to do is to continue to entrust you to God's care.  I have to say, He's done an amazing job on you so far!  :)  You're a delightful, loving, cheeky, brave, and beautiful girl.  We can't wait to see what the next month will bring!

Love,

Your mama and papa birds

T-minus 2 months!

Happy 10-month birthday, Kiyomi-bear!

This has been a super-eventful month!  This month, you decided to have us walk you around, because sitting down and playing in one spot is old news.  You were pulling yourself up to standing before, but you're really really into it now, and will take every opportunity to cling to mama or papa so that you can wiggle your way into a standing position.  You will then stand there and whine until we take your hands and walk you around.  Please keep in mind that you hadn't really crawled at all until this week.  Just this past week, we decided we should probably push you more to crawl, so you are now doing a commando drag.  Thank goodness for sticky fingers, because you are all upper-body strength!  With all this new walking, you're really becoming independent.  We used to be able to walk you around wherever we wanted, but you will now turn your upper body to the direction you really want to go, and then whine until we help you walk over there.  You are so busy busy busy!

Your "vocabulary" has also really expanded and you've added lots of sounds.  We think that you really love to hear yourself talk, because you will spend a good chunk of your playtime babbling happily to yourself.  Your sound of choice is still "dada", but you're adding some M, N, G, and B sounds.  We think you'll be a real talker once you find your words!  You're also clapping and waving really consistently in response to others doing it to you, and you've also started shaking your head, "No."  When you shake your head, you smile, so we don't think you understand what the motion means, but you are starting to understand when we say, "No," to you!  You definitely stop what you're doing for a bit and look at us with a guilty look before trying again.  And again.  You are persistent!  Just the other day, you thought it would be fun to play with tissue paper.  Every time you put the tissue paper to your mouth, mama told you, "No," after which you gave her a look and slowly lowered your hand.  We have a video, and you should definitely ask to see it, because you are ahhh-dorable.

This month, you bit mama while breastfeeding, but after a stern, "No!", you haven't tried again.  Good thing, too, because your first tooth (bottom right) broke through last week!  We've been feeding you food in bigger chunks because you're really good at mushing it around in your mouth, and now, with this tooth, we know you'll really master the chewing thing!  Your pincer grip has been amazing for a few months now, but you are getting much better at feeding yourself without smushing the food between your fingers.  This month, you also decided that you could share your food with us!  When we open our mouths wide (and you aren't too hungry yourself), you will put food into our mouths for us!  Papa actually eats what you give him, but mama only pretends.  We're so thankful that you have a sharing heart, and that you think it's fun!  We hope it will continue with things other than food!

Baby-led weaning inspired messes = banana beard

You've had lots of new experiences and met lots of new people.  Generally, in a new situation, you like to stick with mom and dad at first, but once you've settled in, you're happy to explore with other people.  This month, grandpa Osakabe and mama took you to the local splash pad.  You didn't like the cold water in your face, but really loved to reach out to try to grab the streams of water.  We're hoping for more hot days so that you can continue to get used to fun water activities.

So maybe the first splash pad experience wasn't that enjoyable

Did I mention you like bubbles?  You and mama played on the balcony on a rainy day, mama blowing the bubbles, you trying to reach out to grab them, and mama having to restrain you so that you didn't hit your head on the concrete ground from leaning out too quickly.  Our condo unit is small, but we're trying to find more activities so that we can still have lots of fun!

Your mama is heading back to work in 2 months, and she is going to miss witnessing all these milestones in your life!  As always, we want you to know how much we love you, and how much we hope you know that God loves you!

Love,

Your mama and papa bears

Nine months!

{I may have missed someone's eight-month update, but am going back to finish it off soon..sigh, .the life of a mom}

My dearest Kiyomi-bear!

You are nine months old today!  Time has flown, and you've developed so quickly.  We had a lot of firsts this month, including your first airplane flight to NYC, and your first night sleeping somewhere besides your crib.  You handled the airports and airplane like a champ, playing with toys, exploring the airplane with daddy, and eating a.lot.of.puffs.  The trip to New York was so fun!  We travelled with another family, whom you love love love.  They made you smile a lot.  You also made a lot of people in New York smile, even the scary-looking, tough guys on the subway!  To charm them, you started to clap your hands together, and then they imitated you, which made you smile.  Thinking about it makes ME smile!  You were also called, "The world's cutest baby" in a craft store.  The ladies oooohed and aaaaahed over you!

You love books.  Both listening to them being read.  And eating them.  I'm just glad you love them!

You didn't nap all that well in NY, especially when you were in your travel crib.  You napped your 2 daily naps on the go in the Onya carrier and your stroller, but it was SO HOT in Manhattan that you always woke up quite sweaty.  Actually, when you sweat, you get the world's cutest sweat beads on your nose.  A-dorable!  Sleeping overnight in NY wasn't a problem, and you actually slept through the night for 4 out of the 5 nights.  The last night, and after we got home, you have been doing your usual wake-up at around 5 am.  

New sensory experiences can be messy.

Napping on the go in NYC. 

You're also really loving to pull yourself up to a standing position.  In fact, today, you did it over and over while giggling.  Pulling yourself up from sitting to standing apparently makes you stupendously happy! You're not crawling quite yet, but are pushing yourself with your arms and legs and are belly-surfing somewhat. 

You're eating most foods now, especially sweet things.  You love those fruits!  Some things you don't like are peaches and mangoes.  I think you find them too sour, as you scrunch up your face in dislike whenever I try to give them to you.  You're beginning to really like feeding yourself, and even learned to suck your food out of those squeeze packs!  You tend to suck too much out, so the food overflows out of your mouth, but you're really getting the hang of it.

You're wearing 12-month and 18-month clothing because of your long torso, and your big cloth diaper.  You're 71 cm long and weigh 18.3 lbs.

This month, we dedicated you at the JGCT.  It was such a wonderful experience to have everyone in the church stand to show that they support us in raising you.  You're part of an enormous family that loves you! We continue to pray that God will give your papa and I wisdom to raise you.  We love you Kiyomi!!  You have the world's cutest laugh, and you continue to bring so much joy to our lives.

Love,

Your mama

Officially 7 months old!

To my dear Kiyomi bear!

Mommy cheated and posted your 6-month letter only last week, so it really seems like this month flew by!


I know I say this every month, but really, really, really, we can't believe how much you've grown!  We attribute this extra weight gain and better sleep to the fact that you're eating a lot of solids everyday, although you still protest off and on.  It's a little unpredictable, because some days, you'll eat without any complaints, and other days, you cry when you see a spoonful of food in front of you.  So far, you've eaten rice cereal, oat cereal, avocados, carrots, broccoli (you really really do not like broccoli... I try to hide broccoli in with rice cereal or yams, but you can taste the difference and try to push the food out of your mouth when I do that.  Sigh.), peas, banana, buttercup squash, Japanese yams (satsumaimo), and apples.  Apples are your guilty pleasure.  They're also a stopper.  We try not to give it to you too much!  The yams/squash combo seems to make your poop nice and solid, which has been nice for this cleanup crew.  Was that too much information? Your favourites are all pale-coloured...rice or oat cereal, Japanese sweet potato, banana, apple...all rather sweet-ish things.  You definitely do NOT like anything green (broccoli, avocado, peas), and are only slightly into carrots.  I am posting a photo of the lovely face you make when we feed you too many green things.

It's blurry...but you get the idea.

You had your first real trip to the park this month, and LOVED the swings!  You were rather impartial to the slide, but the swing definitely made you giggle.  You also loved to watch the other kids play on the jungle gym.  You tend to sleep really well after a trip to the park, which is nice for your mama and papa, who also enjoy naps after park outings.

You might not be able to tell, but you're happy and giggling.

Overnight, you regularly sleep a longest stretch of 6 hours, even with a smaller dream feed at 10pm.  We think the solids you're eating are staying in your tummy longer, so that you can sleep more soundly.  You're really settling into a pattern throughout the day, too, and are a champion sleeper, averaging around an hour each nap.  You barely ever cry, but when you do, it's usually because you're in a crowded area and aren't being held by mama or papa.  I think you feel overwhelmed or scared, but you stop crying as soon as we pick you up.

You are definitely sitting up on your own now, although you still tend to flop over if you get too excited or reach at a weird angle for a toy.  You also regularly roll over from your front to your back, but only to the right.  It's your strategy to get off your tummy, which is really a place you don't like to be.  In other play news, you have discovered that you love to hit objects together to make loud sounds.  You've also discovered how to scream, loudly, and will do it for fun while we change your diaper, or while you play.  We can tell that you're getting tired of your current toys, and you really want to play with anything mama or papa are holding.  Especially if it's plastic, and a suffocation hazard.  Sigh.  You have a strong grip and are sofast at grabbing things, so we really have to watch you carefully.

You smile and laugh really regularly now, but are happiest in the mornings.  Your papa goes in to get you, usually, and you greet him with a smile, giggles, and excited arm and leg flailing.  When you're in a good mood, you're ticklish around your neck and underarms.  When you're not in a good mood, you look at us quizzically as we attempt to tickle you, as if to say, "Why are there wiggling fingers attacking me?" But still, you really only laugh hysterically at home.  You're a cautious baby, and eye strangers suspiciously, but when you're relaxed and around people you know, you love to laugh.  You laugh the most when something surprises you, like when your Aunt Nami uses your stuffed bear to pop out of places.  You also laugh a lot when you zoom in really fast to something.  Your grandpa Osakabe likes to zoom you in, close to mama's face, and you giggle a lot at that.  Is my face funny?  :)

We still read books together, and you can sit patiently through around 3-4 books before you get bored and antsy.  You're getting very good at turning the pages, even though it's usually for the purpose of attempting to bring said book to your mouth.

We think you're the bees knees!  Almost every night, your dad and I share photos of you that we've taken on our phones and marvel at how cute you are.  We love love love love love you!

Love,

Your mama and papa

Half a year!!!

To our dearest Kiyomi,

This year, you're celebrating your 6-month birthday on Girls' Day, March 3rd.  Actually, you'll always celebrate your half-birthday on Hinamatsuri!  Your Aunt Ryuko sent you a small Hinamatsuri set just in time!

Hinamatsuri set - March 3

 6 month stats:
Height: 67 cm
Weight: 15 lbs.

YOU ARE HALF A YEAR OLD!  Wow, six months.  You grow and change so quickly, and everyday is an adventure.  When we go in to give you your dream feed, I am in awe of how much you've grown and matured.  We pray for you every night!

Lately, you seem to have grown tired of your toys, and now want to play with anything that isn't a toy!  You love to put things in your mouth, so we have to be really quick to prevent it if you end up grabbing something (which you do...you grab EVERYTHING!).

If we put you down for a nap without your two blankies, we are in trouble!  You often sleep with one in each hand, and will snuggle your face up to it when you're trying to get to sleep.  You learned to sleep longer overnight, but still wake up once at around 4 am to feed before you sleep through to 7am. 

You still don't like being on your tummy, so you haven't really practiced rolling over too much.  You do, however, love to stand and can stand if you're holding onto something.  I have a sneaking suspicion you'll try to go from lying down straight to standing and bypass the whole crawling thing.  We're putting you in the jumparoo so that you have time to strengthen your leg muscles in preparation.  You've learned to sit on your own, although only for a little bit.  When you play while sitting, you tend to lean to the right and end up on your side.

We started giving you rice cereal right before you turned 6 months old, and you love it!  You'll even grab your spoon to feed yourself, which is great for later, but ends up being quite messy right now.  You're also practicing sucking with your sippy cup and can drink water through the straw!

You're becoming more patient, and can play by yourself for longer periods of time.  When you get bored or tired, you'll grunt and whine until someone comes to pick you up.  Before we pick you up, we'll say, "Up", and you tense your muscles in preparation for being lifted.  You are so smart!  :)

You still give your grandpa Osakabe the most giggles.  He knows how to play with you to get your smiles.  He even took you outside to play in the snow for the first time!  You seem more and more happy, which we love.

Gosh, we love you!

Love,

Your mama and your papa

Happy 5 months, Kiyomi!

Wow.  I can't believe you're 5 months old already!  You have grown by leaps and bounds this past month!

Weight: 16 lbs!!!
Height: 65 cm

Just after your 4-month birthday, you discovered your feet.  Now, you can't get enough of them, especially when we're changing your diaper.  You love the freedom and will grab your feet as soon as your diaper is off.  You bring your toes up to your mouth and suck on them, although you scrunch up your face as though you don't like the taste.  I can't blame you, because sometimes your feet smell a little sour.

You also love to clasp your hands, and can pass toys back and forth between the two hands.  You tend to clasp your hands a lot as you're holding onto one of your favourite squeaky star toys, sucking on one of the points.

Your neck muscles are so strong now!  When you're lying down and want to get up, you crane your neck forward as if you're going to do a sit up.  You also grunt, to get our attention, so that we know to pick you up.  I think you're also getting used to the word, "Up", because we try to say it before we pick you up.  Your grip strength is also amazing!  After we say, "Up!", if we give you a finger to hold, you will grab on and we can pull you up to a sitting position.

This month, we decided you were getting too big for your bassinet and finally moved you to a big-girl crib.  You didn't like it the first couple of nights, but have adjusted really well.  You even slept for 8 hours straight on one night, which we're hoping will repeat itself in the near future!

You are also smiling and laughing more and more.  You love when mama makes popping noises with her mouth, and will give a big smile when we pop out during Peekaboo.  You laugh at things randomly, but once you're laughing, if we imitate you, you think it's hilarious!

This month, you had your first babysitting experience with your aunt and uncle.  You were so well-behaved, and we're hoping it motivates them to give you a cousin!  ;)

Kiyomi, we fall more and more in love with you everyday.  Even when you're sleeping, we stare at the monitor and are amazed at how blessed we are.  We love you so much!

Love,

Your mama and your papa

Lest you think that sleep training is easy...

I am currently staring at my baby monitor.  Staring at the image of my daughter, who has been crying on and off for 15 minutes or so.  I am confused.  Should I go into her room to get her, or do I continue to let her cry it out?

My husband put her down for a nap after she yawned a few times.  That was 45 minutes ago.  She proceeded to play quietly by herself for half an hour.  Usually, after a few yawns, we put her down, she plays and calms herself down, and then she's out in 15 minutes or less.  Today, she played for half an hour.  And then started crying.  In 15 more minutes, it'll be time for her next feed.

I'm so confused.  Should I just go get her?  She seems to almost drift off, and then wakes herself up and cries.  GAAAAAH.

I wish I had the Baby Whisperer here.  She would know what to do.

4 months young!

Dear Kiyomi,

Today, you are 4 months old!  You continue to make our lives so much richer, and we love watching you grow!

4 month stats:
Weight: 13 lbs, 5 oz
Length: 65 cm

Today, you had your 4-month vaccinations, and you took them like a champ.  The doctor says you are growing well, and you are gaining so much control of your head and limbs.  You can now hold onto our fingers and keep your head in line with your body when we pull you up.  You also learned to roll over from your belly to your back, and you love to grab onto the toys that hang on your playmat.  You can even sit on your own for a little bit before you tip over.  You have started drooling a LOT, and blow very attractive spit bubbles.  We think you're teething, but don't know when we'll see those first teeth poke through!

You have also become so adept at self-soothing!  You love to suck on your fingers or fist, and under the right conditions, it only takes you a moment or two to go to sleep once we put you down.  At other times, you can cry for up to half an hour.

You're no longer that interested in the toys on your vibrating chair, and the vibrations no longer guarantee that you'll poop.  Instead, you play with your teethers and your star toy, and you suck on the Tigger rattle a lot.  Your leg muscles are also growing stronger, so you can stand with assistance.

You are becoming a homebody, and are the most relaxed at home.  You're starting to become really suspicious of people you don't know, and will cry if someone besides you family holds you.  You still like to sing along when mom sings, "You Are My Sunshine", and talk a lot with grandpa Osakabe.  You are also starting to become more ticklish, and laugh a lot when we imitate you.

You've technically been in our lives for more than a year now, and we love you more and more everyday.  Your personality is starting to develop, and we love to see you smile and laugh.  You seem to do something new everyday, so we can't wait to see what tomorrow brings!

Love,

Your mama and papa

Breastfeeding - My love-hate relationship

Breastfeeding was one of the hardest things I have ever had to learn!  The first thing I discovered was an uncontrollable urge to punch anyone who said, "If you're doing it correctly, it shouldn't hurt."  Hah.  I get what they're saying, in terms of proper positioning, etc., but this is definitely AFTER your nipples stop being super-sensitive to the strong suction-force of your newborn.  The second thing I discovered was a weird okay-ness with random healthcare professionals touching my boobs.  They really just get in there and poke and squeeze!

We did skin-on-skin pretty much immediately after Kiyomi was born, and the nurse helped me to get her latched.  In the beginning, Kiyomi had a terribly small latch, but the lactation consultant taught me to push her shoulders in as she opened her mouth, while kind of hooking her lower jaw around the lower part of my nipple.  That way, she opened her mouth really wide.  Ha, but this took a lot of practice, and I used to take her on and off my breast a few times until she got it right.

Kiyomi had good sucking muscles (I had seen her previously practicing during an ultrasound) and went for it.  I knew there was colostrum coming out, but she wasn't getting enough at the beginning, and she ended up becoming quite jaundiced and losing almost a pound in weight over the first few days.  We had to take her in a few times to get her bilirubin levels tested and started supplementing with formula.  The thing with jaundice is that it makes your newborn quite lethargic, so Kiyomi was constantly falling asleep while feeding.  It was taking me 2 hours at the beginning to get through a feeding, which is crazy, considering you're supposed to start the next feeding 2 hours after the previous one!  I ended up constantly having her attached to my boob, my nipples were cracking and bleeding, and I was in a general state of exhaustion.  I didn't think it was going to get better and needed multiple support people to keep reassuring me that it would, indeed, get better.

I was at the breastfeeding clinic at least once a week until Kiyomi was three weeks old, and one of the first things they did was to get me to use feeding tubes to give Kiyomi her formula.  Basically, you have a thin tube that you tape to your boob so that the end of it is right beside your nipple.  The formula is pushed through the feeding tube, so that as the baby feeds and sucks on the nipple, she gets your milk, as well as the formula.  This is really good in increasing breastmilk quantity, but is so hard on the parents who have to clean and set everything up.  Kevin rubbed my back during this period, and I asked him why his hands were so rough.  He looked at me sadly, and said that it was because of all the dishes and washing he was doing.  Those feeding tubes!  Aie!

I also did the 24-hour cure, eventually, which increased my breastmilk supply some more, and by week three, we had "graduated" from the clinic and didn't have to go back!  I definitely would have given up breastfeeding had it not been for the support I got at the breastfeeding clinic.  There were many times I cried. 

Nowadays, I almost hesitate to say this...but I love the time I have with Kiyomi breastfeeding!  She feeds quickly, and my nipples are immune to her occasional tugging and pulling.  I know this process will repeat itself when we decide to have our second child, so I'm glad I have these victories to look back on!

And the little one said, "Roll over, roll over"

Kiyomi has always hated tummy time.  Since her 1-month appointment when the doctor prescribed 30 minutes of tummy time everyday, she has wailed through the sessions.  I think the longest tummy time session was probably around 7 minutes.  When she got really upset, she would just lie there, head on the mat, crying in defiance.  So much for tummy time developing strong neck muscles.

Kiyomi's aunt finally (and brilliantly, I might add), figured that we should do tummy time while carrying Kiyomi around.  We tricked her into exercising her arm and neck muscles, mwahaha!  She didn't realize what was happening, and she would contentedly exercise while getting another house tour.  See how content she is?

Flying around for tummy time.  Look at how tired Daddy is!

And then.  A few days ago.  My dad didn't know how much Kiyomi hated tummy time and decided to plop her down on her tummy.  And she did not complain.  GASP!

And THEN.  Yesterday.  I put her down for tummy time.  She promptly stretched out her left arm and rolled herself over onto her back.  The girl who refused to do tummy time went from zero tummy time to rolling over!  Although, if I think about it, it makes sense, since she really enjoys being on her back so much more than her front.

Congratulations, Kiyomi!  You can officially roll over!

Santa...shhh

We're not doing Santa.

Did I hear outrage?  Are you asking what kind of parent doesn't do the Santa thing? 

Hear me out.  We are not going to tell Kiyomi that Santa is real, because we don't want to lie to her.  Ever.  Moreover, if Kevin and I are serious about trying to teach Kiyomi about God, what does it say to her if I tell her that there is a man who always watches what she is doing, judges her actions, and then rewards or punishes her for them, and then tell her it's all made up?  Doesn't set us up for success with the God thing, I think.

What we will do:
- tell her about the original St. Nicholas, who gave generously to the poor
- drill into her, the fact that she.absolutely.cannot.spoil.Santa.for.anyone.
- celebrate the real reason for Christmas, which is the birth of our Saviour, Jesus Christ

We will celebrate Jesus' birthday like it's 1995.  It was a good year for me.

Eat my fist: a sleep update

It's been about a week since we started training Kiyomi to self-soothe, and I have to say, it has gone much smoother than I expected.  The longest she cried, on and off, was about an hour.  Nowadays, she *usually* falls asleep after about 10 minutes of crying/self-soothing.  Her fist is her favourite self-soothing tool, and she often crams her hands into her mouth.  Sometimes, she extends her fingers and ends up choking herself!

I am SO proud of my little girl for learning how to self-soothe!  We've been putting her down for naps in her car seat, so that she would learn to nap anywhere, and the other day, she even put herself to sleep at church!

As for me...my husband commented that I seem much happier, and I have to say, Kiyomi's self-soothing ability has revolutionized my quality of life!  I suddenly have so much more free time (alas, I guess I must finally get around to the laundry!), and because I know she'll take a nap every eat, activity, sleep cycle, I can also plan to rest.  Ha, although most of the time that she's napping, I'm staring at the monitor, watching her sleep!

Praise God for self-soothing babies!

Sympathy burps

Everytime I go to burp Kiyomi...I also burp.

I swear I never used to burp this much before. 

Sleep training

Let me start with a disclaimer.  Every baby is different, and every family is different.  What works for some doesn't work for others.  There is so much literature out there regarding sleep training, whether you should/should not do it, and how it should be done.  I'm only documenting this so that I remember what we did with Kiyomi, so that we can learn from it and hopefully improve on it for our second child.   I will say, for any technique we try, I'm sure we'll be praying a LOT. 

As I write this, Kiyomi is on her 3rd nap of the day, and I'm intently watching her sleep on the baby monitor.  I decided that I would start teaching Kiyomi to self-soothe on my birthday (yesterday), and that we should establish more of a routine so that we could continue to read her crying cues correctly.

Some signs that Kiyomi was able to self-soothe:
- she can now pick up and hold objects (instead of randomly & accidentally grabbing objects)
- she has been sucking on her fist, and now fingers, for the past few weeks, and it seemed to quiet her when she was crying
- she started sleeping for 4-5 hour stretches overnight (and even some random 6-hr ones!), where I would hear her fuss and wake up, but she would go back to sleep if I left her

Now, I'm sure she had self-soothing skills before this as well, but we're comfortable with having spent the first three months of her life responding quickly to her cries, and walking her around to get her to sleep (although this was wearing on us, which was one of the reasons I decided we should sleep-train her).

I'll start with how we were getting her to sleep before.  For her bedtime (read: not naptime), I'm still basically nursing her to sleep, although as she gets better with the self-soothing for naptime, we'll change up the schedule.  Basically, it's a bath, fresh diaper, both breasts, a bottle, swaddle, and then back on one breast again.  We give her the extra bottle at this bedtime feeding to help her stay asleep longer.  Some call this the "dream feed".  We tried putting her to bed without swaddling her, but it was too early, and she would wake herself up when she flailed her arms uncontrollably.  Or, she would catch sight of her hand, and then her eyes would pop open so she could stare at it.

During the day, we were on a cycle where I was feeding, changing her diaper and playing with her, and then carrying her around when she got fussy.  While being carried, she liked to look around at everything, and we could tell she was getting tired once she started to yawn.  Now, here's the difference.  Before, when she started to yawn, we'd just keep carrying her around.  Yesterday, I started putting her down into her car seat (we decided to train her to nap in her car seat, as it's portable and she'll be able to nap anywhere) once she started yawning, and then shushed, patted, and slightly rocked the car seat as she cried.

The first time I tried this, she cried/whined for about half an hour.  I thought we were off to a great start, because the next time, it took her only 20 minutes!  Ha, and then she showed me.  She cried off and on for almost an hour in the afternoon.  Sigh.

Today has been better, and I think there's a nap schedule that's starting to emerge.  She sleeps for a larger chunk in the morning, and then in the late afternoon.  In between, she catnaps for half an hour or so.  She still cries and whines a bit, but this last time, she only whined for 10 minutes!  Basically, as she cries/whines, I sit beside her and shush her or pat her chest.  Once she quiets down, I stop the shushing and patting.  Truth be told, when she's crying, I try to distract myself by playing Bejeweled.  Otherwise, I find myself looking at her, and she'll stare at me while she cries, which just breaks my heart.  My mantra is, "Avoid eye contact."

This whole concept of self-soothing was totally foreign to me until we had Kiyomi.  I had no idea babies needed help getting to sleep, and that most couldn't do it naturally on their own.  At the beginning, I was so puzzled as to why she couldn't just, "let go", and fall asleep, but as I've been up in the middle of the night with her, it becomes more clear to me, because I have trouble getting back to sleep!

Sometimes I wish someone would rock me to sleep.

I'll have to write another update again when we figure out what works consistently, as it's all an experiment right now.

3 months old!

Dear Kiyomi,

You just turned 3 months old, and you have grown so much!  I spend all day with you, but I will still look at photos of you over and over.

Three month stats:
Length: 63 cm
Weight: 13.6 lbs.

You've grown so big, and we're on the last button on your size 1 Applecheeks around your cute, chubby thighs!  We'll have to put you in size 2s soon.  We started putting you in 3-6 month clothing at 2.5 months, because you were so long!  You've developed great head control, and love when your mom and dad walk around to give you tours.  You look around eagerly, and get upset if we stop in front of a blank, boring wall for too long!  You also get upset when we try to do tummy-time with you, so we trick you into doing it by carrying you around on your tummy.

You started smiling a few weeks ago, and now laugh when your dad tickles your lips, or we put our faces close to yours.  You can also hold onto things with intention, and have wasted no time picking up your toys, clinging to your parents clothes, and pinching us!  You especially like to hold onto your pink bear-blanket when you're napping.

Your favourite books are Moo, Baa, La La La, because you love the animal noises, and you will spend a long time looking at the pictures in your Look, Look! book.  You also try to sing along when your mom sings "You are my Sunshine", and give lots of smiles when we do the actions to "Tick Tock, Tick Tock, I'm a Little Coo-coo Clock".

Overnight, you usually sleep for a five-hour stretch, wake up for a feeding, and then go back to sleep for 2-3 hours.  You spend your early mornings with your dad, where you usually coo and giggle.  You have trouble going to sleep when you're in a new environment, because you want to look at EVERYTHING.  You will tell mama and papa that you want to walk around, if we stay in one place too long.  You are very clear in your communication, and will let us know quite dramatically if you don't like something.  We think you're a spirited baby!

You're patient with the other children at church when they want to touch your hands, or stroke your head.  They think you are SOOO CUTE!  :)

You love when we change your diaper, and kick your legs excitedly once your diaper is off.  We think you would love to lounge around in the nude all the time if you could.

We are so blessed that God knit you together so wonderfully and fearfully, and we've had so much fun getting to know you.  You are such a blessing to us and have taught us lots already.

Kiyomi, we love you!

Love,

Your mama and papa

Kiyomi's birth story

I've decided to blog about Kiyomi's arrival, because I will inevitably forget what happened (ex. everytime I mentioned something about the birth to my mother, she responded with, "Oh, right, I forgot about that."  Very helpful, mom!), and so that she has something to look back on if she decides she wants to know about her entrance!

Just a warning, I will be describing some things in detail so it might be TMI for some people.  Just stop reading if you don't want to know about the ins and outs of a birth.

Kiyomi was due on September 2nd, 2012, and sure enough, on Friday night (Aug. 31), I was jarred awake in the middle of the night with extremely painful cramps.  Wait, I should edit that.  I *thought* they were painful.  Little did I know what else was in store.  I woke up around 3:30 am and noticed I had bright red spotting, and freaked out (they always say bloody show is supposed to be pink).  I woke Kevin up and made him take me to the hospital.  I told them that I knew I wasn't in labour, but that I wanted to make sure everything was okay with the spotting.  Dr. Taerk (pronounced Dr. Turk...I almost burst out laughing because Kev and I had been watching copious amounts of Scrubs, and I wanted to ask the doctor whether his name was short for Turkelton) examined me, and told me my cervix was just effacing.  Sent me home at 4 am.

All Saturday, I relaxed at home, and didn't really have any cramps, but Saturday night, the cramps were terrible (again, so I thought.  So silly.), and Kevin insisted on timing them with me.  I casually mentioned that they probably had an app to time them, which the did, so Kevin used his phone to time them.  This meant I was waking him up every 10 mins. or so to make him time them, which meant he got absolutely no sleep.  They continued once I woke up in the morning, but weren't quite as painful.

I stayed home on Sunday and relaxed again, which meant I missed an amazing dinner that Kevin got to go to.  He got home around 10 pm, which is when the REAL contractions started.  I thought they were super-painful, and I timed them overnight.  Around 3 am again, I thought we were finally at the magic 5-1-1 (contractions 5 minutes apart, for 1 minute duration, which continue for at least an hour).  I was in a lot of pain, so we went to the hospital.  Again, Dr. Taerk examined me, but I was only 3 cm dilated, so he sent us home.  I said that the contractions were really painful, but he told me they would be worse, hahah.  He said we would likely be back later on that day.  I was slightly embarassed to be seen by the same doctor and STILL not be ready to be admitted.

All Monday, I laboured at home on the couch.  It was excruciating!!  I told Kevin testily that he should not talk to me because I needed all my concentration to keep getting through the contractions.  The pain got worse and worse, and I finally understood what the Dr. had said about the pain getting much worse.  I could vaguely hear Kevin watching more Scrubs episodes in the background, but it took all I had to keep breathing through the contractions.  Sometime in the early afternoon, I started to feel a lot of pressure, and a desire to push.  I knew I wasn't supposed to push, so I just kept breathing.  Shoulda listened to some hypno-birthing techniques beforehand!  I knew I could probably go into the hospital, but the pain was just so terrible, that everytime I thought about the effort it would take to move, walk downstairs, endure a 20-minute car ride, and walk through the hospital to triage, I didn't think I could do it.  I know they say that walking, taking a shower, etc. is actually great for labour, but are you KIDDING ME?!  I couldn't get up from the couch. 

Finally at around 3pm, I decided I needed to get to the hospital.  By that time, I had decided I really wanted an epidural (so much for seeing how far I'd get without one!), and was now worried that I was too far along to get one!  The car ride was TERRIBLE, but I was thankful that it was Labour Day, and that the hospital wasn't that busy.  Kevin dropped me off at the main entrance, and I quickly hobbled towards a wheelchair that someone had left outside.  Part of me wanted to sit in it and get Kevin to wheel me around, but sitting was actually more uncomfortable, so I just used the wheelchair to get through the next contraction, and then booted it through the lobby.  I wanted to try to make it upstairs before the next contraction, but they were coming pretty frequently, so I ended up having one in the elevator.  A man was in there with me, and I was doubled over, staring at the floor.  I don't know what he thought, but I hope he knew I was in labour, as I breathed heavily and asked him if we were at the 5th floor yet.  He didn't answer, so I looked up, recognized the floor and scurried to the triage desk.  There, I had another contraction, and Kevin arrived shortly thereafter.  The nurse amused me, because she spoke soooooo slowly and calmly, that had I not been in so much pain, I would have been really annoyed at her pace.  Anyway, she got me onto a triage bed, and through my two previous visits, I knew that she was supposed to leave me to time my contractions for a while before she even called the doctor.  Well, I was not having any of this waiting business, so I told her I really felt like pushing, so she checked me, and I was a "stretchy 6", in her words.  She asked me whether I wanted an epidural, to which I replied vehemently, "YES!"  She mentioned something about going au naturel, but I repeated that I definitely wanted an epidural, haha.

By the time I got to the labour room, it was around 4pm.  They got an IV in me (the first time, they messed up and I ended up bleeding all over the floor and bruising, but did I care?  Noooo siree!  Too much labour pain!) and Dr. Halpern came in to give me the epidural.  I was relieved to see he was an older man, because I didn't want a resident giving me my epidural.  The most ridiculous part, I thought, was how they kept saying that I had to stay absolutely still while they gave it to me.  It was funny, because I was experiencing contractions every few minutes, which were making me writhe in pain.  I really didn't think I'd be able to stay still, and had momentary thoughts of panic as I worried about what would happen if I didn't stay still.  Anyway, my worries were unfounded, because the epidural went in successfully, and thus started 7 hours of painless bliss!  I had normal conversations with Kevin, I napped, and it was beautiful.  I totally respect anyone who is able to give birth without an epidural, because it takes SO.MUCH.MENTAL.CONTROL. I could feel the most minimal of sensations when I had a contraction, so once I was dilated to 10cm at around 10:30pm, I started to push.  Uh, can I just say that pushing is SO EASY when you have an epidural?  Totally not like in the movies, where ladies are screaming and injuring their husband's hands.  In the end, they had to give me an episiotomy to prevent tearing.  I think they actually gave it to me while I was pushing, so Kiyomi actually FLEW out of me onto the table.  I thought to myself that every birth training video/book I had read directed us to guide the baby out SLOWLY, but hey, Kiyomi came out crying and flailing, so I was happy.  She was actually flailing and grabbing so much, that the first thing she did was to grab the scissors that they were trying to use to cut the umbilical cord.  Apparently, she was not ready to be separated from her mama yet.  :)

She was born at 11:03pm on September 3rd, weighing 3418 grams (7 lbs, 8 oz), but her head was small compared to her body length (52 cm).   They suctioned her lungs, as there was some meconium when they broke my water, just to make sure she hadn't inhaled any, but she was pronounced healthy and fit!

I asked the doctor how many stitches he was putting in, and his reply was, "It's not so much about the number, as it is about getting everything back where it's supposed to be."  As if THAT was supposed to be reassuring?!  The only other memorable thing that happened before they stitched me up was Kevin's very sensitive comment that, "It looks scary down there."  A very supportive husband comment, hahaha.

I thought Kiyomi was the most beautiful newborn I had ever seen.  She had beautiful rosebud lips, but she refused to open her eyes for the first day or so.  They let us stay 2 nights, and we went home Sept. 5th.  I waddled.

Part of me wonders about having an underwater birth, or possibly a home birth next time...we'll have to see!