Who Is This Child of Mine?

Old Hana: Didn't usually like the swing
New Hana: Can't fall asleep at night without it

Old Hana: Screams during blood draw
New Hana: Furrows brow a little but doesn't shed a tear or make a peep

Old Hana: Goes to bed at 10 pm
New Hana: Goes to bed at 7 pm

Old Hana: Bites mom while eating
New Hana: Rarely bites mom and so she's feeling much better

Old Hana: Cries a lot before bed
New Hana: Doesn't cry before bed (only fusses a little, usually)

Old Hana: Sits peacefully in tub
New Hana: Splashes around until the whole bathroom is wet

Old Hana: Does not like to sit in the car in traffic
New Hana: Still does not like to sit in the car in traffic

Old Hana: Sleeps 8 hours straight at night
New Hana: Sleeps 5 hours straight at night, in two stretches

Old Hana: Not interested in books
New Hana: Will sit through most or all of a book

The Swing Take Two

Again, our daughter proves herself to be different than all the other kids. In the first 3 months, when many kids are colicky, they love to fall asleep in the swing. Not Hana - she insisted on crying (in other words, screaming bloody murder) right through any swinging about 80% of the time. Now that we are out of the "4th trimester," suddenly, it's the only place she will fall asleep other than while nursing. And she doesn't just fall asleep either. First, she goes through a comatose state where she lies perfectly still and looks exactly like she's sleeping except her eyes are open. Creepy! :) Then, after several minutes, sometimes as long as a half hour, she finally drifts off. Go figure.

Pete is making ice cream, so I'll be signing off right about now...

Sitting Up!

It's hard to believe, but this week Hana has begun sitting up by herself!! Not for very long, as she is still developing the art of balancing, but it won't be long before she's mastered it. I suspected that she would be an early sitter, given how she just LOVES to be entertained by the world around her (and is, in fact, dreadfully unhappy if there is nothing to amuse her). The sitting position is quite the vantage point for viewing the world. We'll post some pictures soon.

3-Month Reflections

Hana turned 3 months old last Thursday. It's so hard to believe she has changed so much in such a short time. As Naomi wisely put it, "She's a little person now." The difference between 2 and 3 months is quite striking - she babbles and smiles and laughs and is so alert and communicative. Playtime is actually playtime. We have games that we play and songs that we sing, and I think she remembers them from day to day. She has come to love bath time. Even when she's cranky, she settles right down when we lay her on the bath mat and she can see she is about to get a bath. And she has discovered that it's fun to kick in her infant tub, which is so fun to watch, even if it does mean the bathroom is soaked afterward.

She's also proving to be very ambitious. She has been unyielding in her efforts to sit up for several weeks now, and she is just now able to sit up in her bumbo seat by herself. During tummy time, she is stubbornly persistent in her efforts to crawl. In fact, in the past day or so, she has taken to stretching her hands out in front of her and has been trying to pull herself forward, in addition to propelling herself with her feet. Of course, she is not strong enough yet to actually move much, which is a source of great frustration for her, and she communicates this through lots of grunting and hollering. If I didn't know better, I would think she was trying to lift 100 lbs up over her head with the way she carries on. But it doesn't seem to upset her. She seems to enjoy the effort and the exercise for the most part.

We are so excited to see what month 4 will bring!!

Big Day

Yesterday Hana went to Tracey's 50th birthday party where she went swimming for the first time with dad. She liked it - yay! Here is the video and some pics. Grandma and Grandpa Coan are here visiting. When we got home from the party, Hana went to bed and Pete and I went to a movie while they babysat!! We saw Julie & Julia, which was very well done and Meryl Streep was great as always.

And After Music Class...

We went to the park with Izzy (9 mos. old) and Vicki. Here is Izzy on the swing looking adorable.

Hana Does the Hora

Hana started her music class today! She had so much fun. Given her father's guitar and percussion background, she is destined to have some musical interest and perhaps ability. Just in the past few days, she has begun to show an interest in our singing to her. It seems to calm her when she's fussy. Here is a video of Hana doing the hora with dad in class.

What Did Hana Think of the Zoo?

Hana Goes to the Zoo

"One Healthy Chick"

Hana has been declared "one healthy chick" by our pediatrician. We took her in yesterday just to make sure that her clamping down while eating wasn't a sign of a more serious neurological problem, like cerebral palsy. (I really need to stop worrying about everything I read on the Internet!) Turns out she is just fine. We go to the lactation consultant again on Friday to figure out what to do next, since nothing we've done so far has worked. I am considering doing breastfeeding only morning and night and giving her bottles with pumped milk during the day, if I can manage to stick to a pumping schedule.

Hana Says Hi

(her tongue looks funny because of the silver nitrate from the frenulum clipping, not because we are feeding her chocolate)

Frenulum Clipped

As promised, the procedure was more traumatic for me than for Hana. In fact, she fussed much less compared with her blood draws and vaccines. The worst part was she got a little silver nitrate in her mouth as a disinfectant afterward and she didn't like the taste - that made her cry a little. But other than that, she was just fine. I am now trying to teach her to use her new tongue! She's started to realize she can stick it out a little farther, but I think it will take a while before she re-learns proper breast feeding technique.

Q: Am I Tech-Savvy Enough to Upload Video? A: Yes!

Latest Photos

Only Mommy

For some reason, in the past week, Hana has been consolable only by me. While this is very flattering, it is driving both Pete and I crazy! I can't seem to get a break, and he gets stuck with a screaming baby he can't calm. I had no idea such attachments could be formed so early on. Fortunately, she gets cuter and more fun every day so it's hard to be TOO frustrated.

The Mystery of the Chub - Solved!

I never could quite figure out how Hana could be gaining so much weight when she seems to barely eat anything. She only eats for 5-10 minutes at a time and then usually falls asleep. We went to see a lactation consultant the other day who weighed her before and after one of her 5-minute feeds. Turns out, she can really gulp it down. She drank 4.2 oz in those 5 minutes! (That's like 1/3 of a can of coke, which is a lot for such a little mouth and tummy.)

The consultant also strongly recommended that we get her frenulum clipped. That is the piece of skin under the tongue that connects to the floor of the mouth. Hers goes all the way to the tip of her tongue, which prevents her from breastfeeding properly because she cannot extend her tongue. This is likely the source of my continuing pain. (A tight frenulum can also cause speech difficulties later in life.) We were hesitant to agree to this because it seems like it could be traumatic, but from what I have read it is less of a procedure than ear piercing and way less invasive and risky than circumcision. I also know a couple of moms who had their babies' frenula clipped and they said it is very quick and easy. So Hana has an appointment for next Thursday morning. Good thing we have the baby Tylenol on hand!