Our Punk Rock Girl

New Noises

Although you can't see her very well in this video (it was dark), the point is really the sounds. One night in SoCal she was all wound up before bed and we were rocking her in her car seat to try to get her to sleep. As you can see, it only served to give her an excuse to make lots of cute and amusing noises.

A Visit to Tanaka Farms Pumpkin Patch in Irvine

While in SoCal we took Hana to a real pumpkin patch at a local farm. She loved the tractor ride and the corn maze. She did NOT like the goats at the petting zoo at all (see sour faces above). It's the first time I've seen her actually not like something new that we introduced her to. She usually loves things that are new and different.

SoCal Visit

Hana survived her first plane ride and had a blast at Grandma & Grandpa's house. We've got lots of pics and video to post, so here is the first batch. Hana took to Aunt Tami right away and they had fun until Hana spit up on her. :) Hana also tried out a big girl stroller that Grandma got and went for a walk along the beach trail in San Clemente (the last pic). We didn't get any pics of Hana and Trex (Grandpa's dog) together because...well, Trex was just plain scared of Hana! When Grandma tried to hold Hana up to Trex to sniff her, he jumped back about 2 feet like someone had touched him with a hot poker. Later in the visit he stole a couple of foot and head sniffs when she was on her back, but that's about it.

Off to SoCal

Today will be Hana's first plane trip! We are going to SoCal to visit Grandma and Grandpa Coan and Aunt Tami.

Below is Hana demonstrating her newfound love for pumpkins.

The Spit-Up Beard and Other Recent Photos

Out with Dad

Hana went out with dad by herself for the first time today. She's stayed home with him before alone but they've never gone out together. He took her for a walk so she could sleep and then to music class. I stayed home, read a book, took a long nap, and then a shower. Now I feel like I can manage the rest of the day. The nap was key. Hana was up every 3 hours last night. I think I hear them returning just now...and I don't hear any screaming or crying so that's a good sign!

Pumpkin Patch Baby

Exersaucer Take 2

Exersaucer Video

Well the darn thing is too big to upload. I'll have to take another video since I don't have editing software. Stay tuned...

The Week in Review

It's been awhile since I posted simply because...well...I'm TIRED. Hana is still waking up every 1 1/2 to 3 hours throughout the night and it's wearing on me. Now I am getting a taste of the sleep deprivation most moms go through in the early months. Even as a newborn though, Hana was a good sleeper, doing 4-hour stretches pretty soon after her birth. Not anymore. *Sigh.* We are going to follow the "No Cry Sleep Solution" plan for a while and see how that goes. First step: Logging everything - naps, bedtime routine, night wakings. Goal 1: We want Hana to be able to fall asleep on her own in her crib (not in our arms, because then we have to transfer her and inevitably she wakes up and cries, prolonging the getting to sleep process sometimes by hours). Goal 2: Get back to those 6-9 hour stretches of sleep! (That might be a bit ambitious, but if we could get back to 1-2 night wakings with 5 hours of sleep in between, I'd be happy.)

Last night we made an adventurous trek into San Francisco for Debbie's birthday party. There was an accident on the bridge so we BART-ed and then we took the bus! It was Hana's first MUNI ride. She was asleep when we arrived at the restaurant but soon woke up to join the party. She was exhausted but couldn't stand the thought of missing anything, so she was alert and alternatively ecstatic and cranky. Fortunately, her aunties Debbie, Naomi, and Jennifer took good care of her while Pete and I ate dinner. Above is a pic of her having fallen back to sleep briefly towards the end of dinner - sucking thumb, fingers mashing face.

On another note, Hana is really getting into books! We are trying to read her one a day as part of her bedtime routine and sometimes if she's in the mood I'll read her one in the middle of the day. Of course, at this stage, the chewing of the book is as exciting as the reading of the book, but whatever floats her boat is fine with us.

Finally, we saw the pediatrician today. Hana got two more shots and was a champ - only a grimace, no crying. Doc says she is doing just fine. She is 25 1/2" and 16 lbs 14 oz. The doc says we also need to get her sleeping habits in order by 6 months or else we're up a creek and it'll be years before we get a full night's sleep. Nothing like having a deadline.

Latest developments:
-Smacks her left kidney with her left fist for no apparent reason
-Laughs when we bounce her on our knee
-Gnaws on my hand at every opportunity (teething????)
-Enjoys the nasal aspirator and likes to help me hold it up her nose
-Got her first stuffy nose this week but no other symptoms
-Distracts easily from eating and likes to look around to make sure she doesn't miss anything
-Desperately needs me to get out her 6-12 month clothes!

Hana Tries Out Her Exersaucer

Thanks Kasey for letting us have this cool toy!!

[video to come - blogger is apparently very busy and upload is sloooooowwwww]

Updates and Anecdotes

Hana has been using her hands a lot more, and with a lot more precision. She easily grabs and explores toys that are given to her, sometimes with one hand, other times with both. (Regardless, the toys usually fast track themselves straight to her mouth.) Today we read "The Runaway Bunny" before bed and about 1/3 of the way through, she decided she wanted to turn the pages herself, but backwards. So we read the first 1/3 of the book both forwards and backwards. Then she chewed on it.

She has also recently developed a routine of nursing herself to sleep before bed, which would be fine, but OW! She switches to "comfort" sucking at a certain point, which is shallower and more pinchy than regular eating. And I can't seem to get her off. When I remove her she just roots until I let her back on, and if I don't....the screaming begins. :) Hopefully this is just a phase. Just about everything at this age is, so I can't imagine this won't change at some point in the relatively near future.

Hana still loves bath time. She has grown out of her infant bath and has graduated to a larger child's bath, which should last her into her toddler years or until we switch her to the regular bath. In fact, she has pretty much grown out of her 3-6 month clothes and I am going to have to get out her 6-12 month things this week! We'll get her weight and length at her 4-month pediatrician visit next week, but I think she weighs close to 17 pounds at this point. Everywhere we go, people comment on her cute chubby cheeks.

She is still waking up every couple of hours at night. We were grateful to get a 4-hour stretch of sleep last night, when 5-6 hours used to be the norm. She is fussing right now in her crib, only an hour after we put her down. Hopefully she will go back to sleep on her own but not likely. :( OK, she's not going back down...gotta run!

our guitar hero

They Talk to Each Other

On Monday, Hana met her new friend Mira who is just a month younger than her. As you can see from the picture, it appears they have no awareness of/interest in each other. In actuality, there was a conspiracy of sorts going on. When us moms weren't looking, Mira told Hana that she doesn't actually have to go to bed at 7 pm if she doesn't want to. She can doze on and off until around midnight if she wants and mom and dad will happily hang out with her and nurse her whenever she wants during that time.

Then, we made the mistake of letting Hana use the phone this week. She called her friend Anton who told her that Mira didn't explain the whole story. He told her that she can wake up every 2 hours throughout the entire night and demand to be nursed back to sleep. This has been going on all week.

Hana is now grounded, with no telephone privileges until she's 5. :)