New Milestones - 4 Months 2 Weeks

So far when Klaudia was done with nursing, she would 'tell' me so by pulling her head back. For the last couple of days, she pulls her head back for a second only to push it forward trying to sit up.

Also, she's been reaching for various things with both of her arms out.

She recently became a very good observer and follower. She tries to imitate the sounds we make.

Today she actually giggled. She has been smiling almost non stop now, but never made a sound. Today when looking at grandma making faces at her, she laughed!!!

They Are Here!!!

Last Wednesday my parents came for a visit. They flew all the way from Poland to stay with us for a couple of months.
They fell in love with Klaudia, and she bonded with them right away, too.

Here is Klaudia reading a Polish magazine with grandpa.




















Klaudia with grandma.















K with her new toy from Ciocia Agatka and Wujek Pio.

Postpartum Reflection

Klaudia has just turned 4 months. This means it's been 4 months since I was last pregnant, and 4 months since Len and I became parents.

Klaudia's joining our family changed our lives completely (just like everyone was telling us). These are only a few changes that I've recently noticed:

• First off (before I start complaining), Len and I absolutely LOVE being parents; I was scared to have kids, and now regret waiting for so long to make the decision; Klaudia is the best thing that ever happened to us
• My mood swings are gone!!! Poor Len had to deal with my being angry in the mornings (no reason! I would wake up mad - first I thought it was a dream, but I couldn't ever remember the dream, and then it would happen way too often - I knew it had to be the hormones) and my crying at any time of the day and with no reason, too. It came with the pregnancy and is all gone now.
• OK, what's up with those wide hips? I have to say I am lucky to have lost all my baby weight within 4 months without any effort, but nobody told me my hips wouldn't go back to normal. They are not obnoxiously wide, but wide enough that some of my favorite prepregnancy clothes don't fit any more. Well, I guess it's time to go shopping. Ann Tay.lor - here I come!
  
• We're NEVER on time anywhere any more - having always been on time, this is difficult to deal with (we were 1 hr late for our friends' son's baptism last month - missed the most important part - a car accident we witnessed on the way to church was a big part of it, but still, 1 hour late!!!)
• My 'forgetting' hormones are gone; the 'being disorganized' ones kicked in. Leaving my purse in random places was a routine during my pregnancy; it's all back to normal now (unless I'm forgetting about something). Staying or getting organized is close to impossible.
  
• I actually don't mind getting up numerous times at night for nursing. That was one of the things I was afraid of before Klaudia was born since I always loved to sleep. But when K stays asleep through most of the night - I wake up and can't wait for her to get up so that I could hold and feed her.
  
• Before K was born, I never thought I was able to love so much. When being a kid, I couldn't imagine loving anyone more than my parents. But then I met Len... Now, loving Klaudia is such an amazing and indescribable feeling!
• I'm grateful for my big boobs! (I had to write this - they are a HUGE part of my postpartum period)
• I'm stunned how much I'm able to accomplish within just 10 minutes. I may not be in places on time, but when given 10 minutes, I am able to take a shower, get dressed, put some make up on, eat, and start both a dishwasher and laundry.

Summary: I am NOT ready to go through the blessed period of pregnancy, but I cannot wait to have more kidS (yes, plural!).

Toe Licking

My sister told me a few weeks ago that her daughter (5 months old) had started to chew on her toes. Since her baby is 4 weeks older than Klaudia, we learn about some milestones from her and await them with excitement. Len and I couldn't wait to see when Klaudia was going to be able to reach for her toes and bring them all the way to her mouth.

Here is Klaudia discovering the taste of her ... socks.

Klaudia - 4 months and 1 week.

Language Development

Len and I want Klaudia to be bilingual. Living in the US will help her with acquiring English, but we'd like her to also be able to communicate with those family members who only speak Polish.

Len has been speaking to her in English, and I (whenever Len is not around) speak Polish only. We also thought about the books we're going to start reading to her soon. I'll be only covering Polish ones and Len will go with English. As a language teacher, I am very anxious to see how her language progress will go. I will definitely try to record it.

So far, Klaudia has mastered all the vowel sounds. The first consonant she articulated was an /m/. For the last two weeks she's been making the /b/ sound - soooooo cute - she gets very excited when saying it - drools and spits all over the place; it must feel good on her lips and tongue.

Klaudia's First Trip to San Francisco

Tired of the hot weather (103*F on Friday), we decided to go and cool off in San Francisco yesterday. Little did we know, SF's weather was winterlike. After running into a couple of stores and one gallery at Pier 39 to warm up, we headed home.

Klaudia's behavior at the gallery was... very professional. She never cried, didn't fart even once. It's like she knew where she was and what was expected of her - she quietly stared at the pictures. She did fall asleep right at the end, but I have to admit: some of the pictures were pretty dull.

During our 30-minute visit in San Francisco, we found time to enjoy delicious crepes! Yum!!!

Klaudia - 4 months old

Doctor's Appointment

Although I read recently how the wellness appointments for infants are a waste of parents' time and a huge business for doctors and how perfectly healthy babies are then injected with tons of viruses weakening their pure immune system (oh, I could go forever here), I was looking forward to our 4-month wellness appointment yesterday. I could hardly wait to hear about Klauduszek's progress. Plus, I was anxious to talk to the doctor about K's little toes (more details to follow).

The first thing Dr. C said after he glanced at K was: "Look at her thighs!" Len and I don't know what the norm is for a 4-month old baby, but we found out that Klaudia is in the 90th% weight- and lengthwise. Her beautiful head is in the 95th%, which according to her doctor, this gives her tons of space for her brain to grow.

Recently I've been looking for more things in Klaudia that resemble me, and apart from her being right-handed (we're still not sure if that's true, but I really hope so:), I discovered one more thing that she definitely and unfortunately inherited from me - ingrown toe nails. I got these from my dad. He had gone through a couple of surgeries in his 20s. I've already had a few of these myself. And now our cute little flower is already suffering from them.

A couple of days ago, Len and I noticed that K's big toes were red (I suspected she'd have ingrown nails from the day she was born, I just didn't know they would bother her so soon). Yesterday one of her toes got infected. The normal procedure for me in this case would be to go to the podiatrist and have my foot numbed and the nail cut all the way from its root. (I start shivering just thinking about it). I was very nervous about having Klaudia go through it. How would they numb her little foot? How would we hold her still for the 10-15 minute procedure? Would they have to put her to sleep? It turned out that we don't have to do anything. Since she doesn't walk yet, her nail should grow forward, and the infection should heal itself. Yay!!!

Right or Left

Klaudia certainly looks like daddy; there is no question about it - everyone who looks at her says it. Len has been trying to convince me that she has my blue eyes, but ... his eyes are blue, too, so daddy's little girl she is!

Although I am very happy with the way Klaudia looks (Len IS the most handsome guy in the universe!), I'm a bit jealous that I can't say that she has my cheeks or chin or nose or anything. However, within the last couple of weeks, we made a little discovery! Even though it might be early to say, Len and I believe that our little princess is going to be right-handed!!! Just like mama!!!

A while ago, Klaudia started picking things up, and we noticed that she uses mostly her right hand when reaching for stuff. Len's reaction to this? "Well, she can't be perfect!" And, who is jealous now?

PS. Whenever Len asks me to write something for him claiming my hand writing is prettier than his, I keep teasing him telling him to try to use his right hand and see if this helps. :)

It's a Beautiful Morning

These are the faces that I see every morning before picking my pumpkin up for nursing. They make my day.
She seems as happy to start her day as she can be.

The Brain Growth

So, I read somewhere that within the first few months of a baby's life, whenever the baby is awake and quiet, it may indicate that her brain is growing. Well, our poor little piglet can't stop 'talking'. So much for the brain growth!

First Mother's Day

Happy 1st Mother's Day!
It's really exciting and encouraging to watch you and Klaudia together. I love how you love our daughter. She's soooo happy and I know that you're a big part of that!!!
Happy Mama's Day!
WE LOVE YOU,
L & K

...said the card.

The day before Mother's Day, Klaudia and I went to the store to satisfy mom's craving for a bubble tea. When entering the store, I noticed 2 teenage boys walking behind us. Since I was only picking up the tea, I left the stroller in the car and had K only in her car seat. To order the tea, I placed K on the ground facing me and other people behind me. At one point I noticed that K was having time of her life laughing hysterically. To my surprise, she was not looking at me but someone behind me. I turned around and saw them... teenage boys returning their smiles to my baby girl. Before I had a chance to say anything, one of the boys said to me: "Happy Mother's Day!"

Two things that crossed my mind then:

1. There ARE nice and thoughtful teenage kids in this world.
   
2. Wow! I AM a MOM!
   

Guess Who?

L: Who is being fussy? Someone whose name starts with Klaudia!

The Signs of Hunger

During the day it's her crying or fussiness that tell us that K is under the attack of hunger. At night it's a totally different story.

In the darkness of night, when hungry the body of our little angel seems to be possessed. All her body parts are thrown in different directions with her having seemingly little control over it.

When I pick her up for nursing, she doesn't even open her eyes. How do I know she's hungry? Her loud sucking on her fists wakes me up. Lifting her feet up and throwing them back on the bed makes me get up. Once I pick her up, it all goes downhill. Even though it takes seconds from the time I pick her up to the time she starts eating, I never seem to be fast enough. When I put her on my lap to start feeding, the beast inside of my little pumpkin is released demanding food NOW. Sometimes it makes my little angel cry, sometimes it doesn't. The beast stays around until it gets satisfied with a certain amount of milk and then slowly drifts away.

The feeding starts with what I call a full body workout. Rhythmically K's knees get bent almost touching her chin to be straightened a second later. K's hands go through a little ritual, too. She either pulls her fingers as hard as she can or she hits my chest as if saying: "More milk now! More milk now!"

Once Klaudia starts eating, her body starts to relax slowly. By the time she is finished, all her limbs hang unconsciously, her mouth stays wide open, and my baby moose is out. So out that picking her up, moving to the crib, kissing on her forehead and covering up does not wake her up. The hunger demon of darkness is gone only to be back the following night.

More Pics

Klaudia 2.5 months old

Night Shift

Klaudia's night schedule usually goes like this: first, we go through the witching hours, then once she is asleep, she doesn't wake up until 3am (or 4 or even 5am sometimes). She gets fed, she falls back asleep and is up for breakfast #1 at around 7am. Then (even though she is all smiles trying to say: I'm ready to live my life) I quietly put her back to her crib and pray that she falls back asleep. Most of the time she does, and we both rest until 10am!

However, last night our little angel wasn't as angelic as she could have been. She was up every hour starting at midnight. When she wakes up at night, I always turn the night light on in the living room, go back to the bedroom, pick her up and go back to the living room for the feeding. Last night, I was so out of it at 1am that I totally forgot to turn the light on in the living room. I picked her up from her crib and stood there with her in my arms not knowing what to do. I went to the living room (still on autopilot) but couldn't see anything. Finally I woke up seconds later, found the light switch, found the couch, did the nursing and went back to sleep to wake up and do the same a few minutes later. This time I knew what to do, but man! it totally made me feel like I was pregnant again! Pregnant and coockoo!

Klaudia - 3 months 1 week

Witching Hours

Almost every night (I'd say 6 out of 7 in a week), Klaudia and the rest of us go through witching hours. The witching hours usually start at around 5pm and go until the little one falls asleep - 9-9.30pm. They consist of her crying her little eyes out and our trying to calm her down. These are our ways of dealing with the situation:

• Nursing helps, but try to nurse for more than 4 hours!
  
• Walking with her in a stroller - wonderful, but it's been way too cold in the evenings recently
• She LOVES being carried in the upright position, but again Len and I both get tired after a few minutes (she weighs 16 pounds after all!)
  
• Thank goodness for Baby Bjorn!!! Len can carry her in it for a couple of hours - he loves it, she loves it, and everyone is happy. She usually falls asleep when Len gets on the bed and jumps with her while watching TV. She's out within 20 minutes.
  

Klaudia's Recent Milestones

Rolling over last week was huge but there are a few other things that our little pumpkin needs to get credit for.

• 3 weeks - started noticing us, her roommates
  
• 4 weeks - started smiling (unconsciously to mommy during nursing; first time meaningfully to daddy)
  
• 8 weeks - slept for 8 hours at night (first time; then switched to sleeping 4-6 hours at a time)
• 3 months - started "talking", especially when in bed after waking up in the morning (her favorite word: owwwwuuu)
• 3 months 1 week - started holding her head on her own
  
• 3.5 months - slept for 9 hours at night ; woke up only once for feeding (caught up with waking up the following night - 6 times!!!)
• 3.5 months - rolled over from her belly to her back
• 3.5 months - started sitting with support
• 3.5 months - started playing with her toes
  

Things I Learned...

While staying at home, I learned

• I'm addicted to my laptop (I turn it on before having my coffee in the morning)
  
• I love Ellen DeGeneres Show (I try to watch it only when Klaudia is taking her afternoon nap, nursing or not needing mama's entertaining - only a few times a week)
  
• I don't like Oprah's show - way too many commercials
• The mail person comes at different times every day (wouldn't it be easier to follow one schedule?)
• I love sleeping in (I used to be a morning person, but if Klaudia doesn't wake up, I'm able to stay in bed until 10.30am)
• Our neighbor upstairs works 5 days a week; the one downstairs either died or moved out.
• Some young people in our apartment building either take days off from work or don't work during the week because they stay at the pool all day long.
• There is no difference between Monday and Wednesday (my work days) and Tuesday, Thursday and Friday (my off days). Weekends are different because Ellen is not on on those days.
  

Staying Home vs. Going Back to Work

Before getting pregnant and even during my pregnancy I was convinced that I'd be back at work in no time. I was planning on the natural birth after which you're supposed to be on your feet the same day. I thought a couple of weeks of rest would be enough. I wasn't sure what I'd do with our munchkin but I thought that finding child care would not be a big deal (it's hard for me to write this realizing how naive I was).

Little did I know my way of thinking would change drastically from the moment I saw HER. Thank goodness my work allowed me to stay home for 6 weeks, and now I'm able to work only twice a week in the evenings. Even then leaving K at home is a heartbreaking event but knowing that she stays with daddy (not a stranger) helps a lot.

I used to be scared that there would be nothing to do when staying at home all day with a little baby. I used to babysit a lot but all my kids were at least 4 years of age, and playing with them was pure joy. How do you play with one that doesn't walk and talk?

First of all, there is so much to do during the day that we run out of time. There are days when I fail to take her out for a walk just because the evening is here before we know it. Second of all, Klaudia is such an easy baby to take care of; she doesn't need much to be entertained. Third, something that I didn't realize before: raising a child is a very natural thing. I'm not saying it's easy, but we learn it as we go. The ideas of what to do and how to do it come naturally. The feeling called LOVE has a lot to do with it, plus discussions with friends who have kids, and babycenter.com are helpful. Finally, spending time with my little pumpkin pie is so fulfilling that I would not exchange it for anything else. I LOVE BEING A MAMA!

The Name of Our Blog

We've had this blog for a while now, waited for ever to make the first post, and now we're still debating on what we should name it. We've changed its name a few times within the last week and still can't decide on one. What do you think?

Vote Now!

What should our blog's name be?
	Hey's Household
	Our Bug's Life
	Klauduszek
	Klaudia's Korner
pollcode.com free polls

Getting Bigger

Klaudia at 2 weeks of age when she still looked somewhat lean.



Klaudia 3 months later.