Day Care!

Day 2 of work and daycare. No embarrassing stories today. Today was much harder to leave her as she was fussy when I went to drop her off. I got to the daycare around 0700 and didn't leave until 0800. I spent some time on the mat with her, fed her and we played with Bonnie (another little girl in the infant room). Here are some pictures and a couple of videos from this morning!

Photos below are at daycare before everyone shows up. Notice the different sections. The foreground is the older infant area. To the right is the caregivers prep-area; food, bottles, diaper changing table. The next section with the rocking chair is Madyson's area for now and in the back is the crib area and one of Madyson and Miss Julie. Madyson has three caregivers; Miss Julie who is there until 0830 as she is actually a Toddler caregiver, Fernando and Bernice. All three are very nice. The place is emmaculate; well at least in the morning. =) The place is always clean and no one is allowed in the room with shoes, or if you want to wear your shoes you have to wear booties to keep dirt off the floor where the kids are playing and crawling. Needless to say, we love it so far!

1st Day back to work

This day has been fast approaching. I didn't realize 6 weeks would go by so quickly, but it has. I also thought that today would be fairly easy considering I knew the day was coming and there was really nothing I could do about it. I was wrong.

Last night I put together everything that I (and Madyson) would need to make it through a day without each other. Her; bottles, food, change of clothes, diapers, Nuk Nuk etc. Me; a glass of wine! Not really, but I sure could have used it after leaving her. I was fine up to the point of walking out of the daycare center. The caregivers seem very nice and very caring. I have visited the center serveal times before dropping her off today and they are always very friendly and all the babies (at most I have seen 5 in there) seem very happy and attended to. But, I still wanted a glass of wine to calm my nerves. Madyson was practically asleep when I dropped her off and had no care in the world. As they say, it affected me more than it did her.

Work was fine. I have no real job right now, so I mulled about the offices, saying hello to people and checking my email, all 1000 of them. Ugh! Okay, so I debated whether or not to share this or not but what the heck, a little something to make you feel a little better about your day... WARNING: Too much information ahead! To Skip go to "ALL CLEAR" below.

Soooo, part of my trepidation about going back to work was how in the world am I going to pump in order to continue to feed Madyson breastmilk. Keep in mind I work with over 550 people of which there are probably only 20 females and the only real place to do this is the bathroom or some fabled room within the building that I am not privy to. So, I ask one of the females: "Where is the room for us to pump?" She proceeds to point me in the direction of a fairly large room at the end of the hall. She tells me that if the door closes it locks but if you need the key someone downstairs has it, just let me know and I will have her come up and unlock it. I thank her and head down to the room. It's open, great! Upon walking in, I notice it's a fairly large room with little cubicle areas set up for what look to be briefing spaces but very unorganized. At this point something in my gut tells me this doesn't look right. But she told me this was the room and I have no idea so this must be it. I take the book that is holding the door open out and let the door shut behind me. I think about checking to see if it would in fact lock but decide not too since I would then be locking myself out of the room. So I proceed to check out the cubicles. There is one to the left and two to the right. None of them have an outlet except the second one on the right so I decide to head there. I set everything up and am ready to go. I have my coffee, my cellphone is out (to listen to music) and both hands free to double pump. Okay, here we go... Mom is calling, great, I can talk to her and maybe it will help easy my nerves about doing this at work for the first time instead of listening to music. "Hey Mom" OMG! "Mom, hold on" Not two minutes have passed and "production" having started I hear the door open and then shut!!!! SERIOUSLY, this can't be happening! I peek around the divder and see not one, but THREE guys coming into to brief for a flight. This can't be happening! I thought the door locked. Okay, don't panic! Hung up on Mom (sorry), quickly trying to put things away without spilling what Has already started but without actually putting things away properly. Thankfully, I am in a flightsuit so it's fairly easy to put "those things" away. Luckily, they decide to go to the first cubicle on the right and have not come back as far as I am... or at least I hope so. I get my things together and proceed to leave the room and find the young lady who pointed me in this direction in the first place to let her know that is in fact NOT the room and that she should not point anyone in that direction next time. My dedication to feeding Madyson breastmilk for the next year is being tested. If I can make it through the next four months at work I will be home free. I ended up finding an office that wasn't being used for 10 mintutes and finished what I was doing. Hopefully this is the only bump in the road.

ALL CLEAR!
With no work to do, all of my emails checked (and deleted) and really no office to even kill time in. I decided to head to the daycare center to pick up Madyson. As I walked into the center (after being let in because I have yet to remember the security code) I looked in the window and saw that Madyson was being lovingly rocked in the arms of Fernando, the male caregiver. He was looking at her so adoringly that it instantly reassured me that I had made the right decision in which daycare to put her in. I put on my booties (they make you put them on so as to not bring in dirt since the babies are crawling all over the floor). I notice the room is dimly lit with some very soothing music playing in the background. Madyson is drowsy but awake and is about ready for her next feeding. Both Bernice and Fernando said that Madyson was a rockstar today as everyone was coming into the infant room to see the new baby, even other moms from other classrooms. They also said that she had a very good morning having slept most of it, looked around at her new surroundings and ate all of her first bottle, 4oz. After feeding her, Fernando helps me get all of her things together while I put her in her car seat and get her ready to go home. While it has only been half a day for both of us in a new routine, I think both mommy and Madyson could use a nap! Hopefully tomorrow's day goes a little smoother for mommy! Pictures tomorrow of the daycare center and the caregivers! Until then, here is another one of Madyson... another video coming soon!

Meeting new people!

It was an eventful weekend! Saturday Madyson met most of Kevin's co-workers at a Hail and Farewell downtown and yesterday we went to dog beach to give Shaye a day out and a chance to get some much needed exercise and then we headed over to a friend's house for a small little get together/BBQ where she met more people! Below are pictures of Madyson with Dan and Katelyn!

Shaye's new shoes!

So, we received our 20% off discount and our annual dividend this week for REI. We really don't need anything, but we love REI, so we headed over there, got a couple of shirts and some trail shoes for Shaye. He loves going hiking with us or running on the trails. The trails do get pretty hot out here during the summer so we figured these would be great to protect his paws. Below is a video of him trying them on for the first time! It's a short video and I wish we had staarted fiming earlier, but here is what we did capture:

Chicken with Tarragon Pan Sauce

Great dish from Willams-Sonoma's Chicken for Dinner!

Looking forward to making Cornish Game Hens w/ Oranges and Onions... Probably Sunday, I'll let ya know!

Chicken w/ Tarragon Pan Sauce
4 Servings
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, lightly pounded until 1/2 inch thick
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
3 tbsp unsalted butter
1 tbsp canola oil
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 shallot, minced
1 tsp chopped fresh tarragon
1 cup chicken stock

Season boh sides of each chicken breast with salt and pepper
Place a large frying pan over medium high heat and add 1 tablespoon of butter and the oil. Meanwhile, spread the flour in a shallow dish. Lightly coat each breast with the flour, shake the remaining excess off and place in the pan.

Cook until the undersides are golden brown. Turn and reduce the heat to medium. Saute until the second sides are golden brown and they feel firm when presed in the center. Transfer to a warmed plate.

Place the pan over medium heat and add 1 tablespoon of the butter. Once the butter has melted add the shallot and saute until softened, about 2 minutes. Stir in the tarragon, add the stock, raise the heat to high and bring to a boil, scraping up the brown bits on the pan bottom. Cook until the liquid is reduced by 1/4.

Return the chicken to the pan, turn once and cook for 1 minute. Transfer the chicken to the platter. Off the heat, whisk remaining 1 tablespoon of butter until melted. Spoon sauce over the chicken and serve right away.

Salmon Loaf!

Made this the other night and MMMMMMmmmm! (Recipe from Fit Pregnancy) Chicken with Tarragon and Sage Sauce up tonight! Will let you know how that one is!

Prep Time 20 Minutes
Cook Time 45-55 Minutes
Serves 4

Per Serving:
300 Calories
27g Protein
31g Carbohydrate
7.5g Fat
379mg Calcium
13mg Vitamin C
3mg Iron
65mcg Folate
4g Fiber

2 Carrots
1 Medium Zucchini
1-15 Ounce canned Salmon, drained
1 cup bread crumbs
3/4 cup 1% milk
1 egg, beaten
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1 tablespoon Curry Powder
Juice from 1/2 Lemon
and,
Pepper to taste

Oven: Preheat 350 degrees
Coat 9X5 inch loaf pan with nonstick coking spray.
Using a grater shred carrots and zucchini and set aside.
In a large bowl, flake salmon; add bread crumbs, milk, egg, onion, carrots, zucchini, curry powder, lemon juice and pepper to the salmon and mix very well until moist.
Form salmon mixture into loaf shape and place in pan. Bake for 40 minutes or until loaf is set in the center. (It will be firm to the touch.) Slice and serve!

Aunt Punkin' Butt! =)

Random Rant

Here are some of the books I have been reading...

Collectively they confuse the crap out of me, individually they are great.  I particularly like the book I got as a baby shower gift from my friend Meredith; The New Basics... It has helped us to cope with Madyson's little "Witching Hours" she sometimes has at night and it has calmed both Kevin and my nerves about trying to put Madyson on a feeding and sleeping schedule.  For instance, I tried putting her on a sleep schedule at 4 weeks (I know, I know) a bit ahead of myself and wishful thinking.  But, after having read The New Basics, I am going with the flow or trying to be " Laissez-faire" , hoping it will make it easier to get her to sleep through the night on her own.  I do NOT want to make it to four months if the result is me having to put Madyson in her crib at night and not coming back to check on her until morning basically using the "cry it out" method.  I know my willpower is not strong when my little girl screams for me.  I can bear the little whimpers and slight crying... she is learning to soothe herself which is great!  But, the "COME AND GET ME NOW" crying, I don't think I could do.  Like I said, hopefully it won't get to that point.  Cross your fingers!

I also really like Babywise which was recommended to me by another friend Kris.  This book is primarily about Parent Directed Feedings.  Kind of a combination of Demanding feeding and Scheduled feedings.  Much of what I have gotten out of this book so far is how many feedings during the day and night parents should expect and at what intervals and how the Sleep, Feed, Wake cycle should eventually help babies sleep through the night.  Well, let me just say that while I attempt to keep Madyson awake after feeding her, more often than not, she is out.  Or it will go, Sleep, Feed, Sleep, Feed, waaaa Nope Sleep, Feed, Ooookay WAKE (usually around 2 am) and then repeat.  =D  She is finally coming out of her comatose state and is awake a little more during the day and sleeping more at night.  Mommy is happy about this!

Now, Happiest Baby on the Block suggest that babies are born one trimester too soon and how to deal with this is to use a method that has been used thouroughtout history to turn on your baby's calming reflex using the 5 S's: Swaddle, Side/stomach laying, Shushing, Swinging and Sucking.  Since Madyson was born she has never liked being swaddled with her arms in.  She will struggle and fight to get them out everytime.  Side/stomach laying seems to scare her.  Shushing does seem to work for a few seconds but the last two are gems!  She loves swinging (only during the day oddly enough) and loves sucking her Nuk Nuk (mostly at night but also while she's swinging).  During the day she seems not to like going to her crib but prefers being out in the living room with me while she swings herself to sleep or just hangs out with her faithful Nuk Nuk.

Caring for your baby and young child is a book from the American Academy of Pediatrics.  I have really only read the sections on what your child should be able to do by the end of Month 1 and the chapter in the back regarding sleep.  The chapter on sleep has been great because it reenforced The New Basics in that it states the baby's sleep will eventually settle into her own routine and that she will gradually be able to soothe herself.  So what I get from the two books is that if I leave her to be while she is only whimpering or slightly crying and let her soothe herself she will eventually figure out how to fall back to sleep rather than running to her side at the slightest hint of discontent "training" her that if she needs to be consoled, cry and mommy will come.  I have found that there are times when Madyson will get fussy, but will quickly find her hand, soothe herself and she is back to sleep before I even get to the door of her nursery.  Here's to hoping she gets to the point where she eventually "sleeps effortlessly through the night" and we don't get to the "cry it out" phase. 

Madyson has been doing awesome with sleeping during the night.  Still about 3 1/2 - 4 hours... the past two nights however, she has reverted back to waking up every two hours, I am hoping this is due to an early growth spurt.  She is now over 9lbs and is more than 25 inches long.  =O  She is getting so big so fast!  The time she goes down at night as moved up, the night before last I was able to get her to bed at 9:30pm and last night Kevin got her down around 10pm or so.  Whoo- HOO!  Much better than 11pm - Midnight.  I think the intervals at which she is waking up might be a growth spurt, her going down so easily and so early might have been all the excitement from the days.  Day before last we did some laundry, we walked over to the grocery store and got some things to make dinner (lasagna mmmm! and carrot cake) for Kris, Olivia and Alyssa since it would be their first evening home without Rudy since baby Alyssa's arrival.  Alyssa is roughly 5lbs.  She looks great and is still recovering from her surgery in the hospital but she is absolutely adorable and seems to be thriving!  We went over and visited for a little while. 

Madyson and Alyssa got along great!  Olivia on the other hand thought Kris had brought another baby into the house and was at first distraught.  Once I reassured her that Madyson would be leaving with me she seemed to warm up to her a bit.  =)  Olivia's a sweet baby and just hasn't learned what "gentle" means yet as she accidentally headbutted Madyson... Madyson took it like a champ though.  (No, no UFC in her future!)

Today we are headed out for a walk; our first one with just Madyson, Shaye and I.  We'll see how this goes.  UPDATE:  The walk went great!  I just kept Shaye on a shorter leash than normal and had him walk beside me behind the stroller and we were golden!  Afterwards, Madyson hung out by the garage and watched mommy and Shaye play fetch.  Shaye has been doing great with Madyson.  Basically just going over and sniffing her every now and then and whenever she is crying just to make sure she's okay.  Then he is back to loungin'.  Luckily he has grown up around Kevin (those of you that know him know what I am talking about) which will help as Madyson gets older and is learning what "gentle" means.  I know they will be fast best friends!

Ugh... got a text from someone at work asking when I was coming back... which brings me back to reality that I DO have to go back and sooner than I would like... in a week!  Really?  Sigh.  45 days went by waaay too fast!  Everyone said it would be hard.  Luckily the child care is close to work and if I need or want to I can jump in the car and head over there for lunch or something.  Four months will go by quickly!  I hope. 

                                      Daddy/Daughter Time

She has a variety of facial expressions!

"Show mommy your muscles and your stinkin' cute booties!"  Mommy loves hand-me downs!

WOO-HOO VIDEO!

A toothless smile makes it better

Madyson had her one month Dr's appt this week... she is now 9lbs 3 oz.  2lbs more than what she weighed at birth... she's growing up so fast!  =)

Three straight nights; 4 1/2 - 5 hours of straight sleeping through the night!  Then back to the 3 - 3 1/2 hour schedule the rest of the evening.  Not too shabby and I will take what I can get at this point.  A routine is starting to emerge; feed, bathe, read a book (possibly feed again) and then put her down.  She generally wouldn't go to sleep until 11pm or so before, now she is going to go to sleep until around 10pm and hopefully once we start sleep training we will gradually move that up to 8pm or so. 

                     Madyson and her "My 1st St. Patrick's Day" outfit.

 

Madyson rocking her Easter glasses Pa-pa and Grandma Marlene got her.   

Yesterday we went to Cowles Mountain at Mission Trails for a little hike.  We hiked a total of about a 1 and 3/4 mile.  We would have gone a bit longer but it was fairly hot and we didn't want to keep Madyson out in the heat despite her being covered from the sun. 

We came home and relaxed the rest of the day.  Madyson was in and out of consciousness most of the afternoon.  Last night, however, she had been upset about something.  Crying off and on from 8:30 -10pm and being awake since 6:30pm.  (Kevin had to go to bed early due to having to get up for work at 5am this morning) I tried putting her in her crib thinking she needed some alone time and she still was not happy.  At about 10:30pm, after about an hour of rocking and reading together and she started crying her normal cry but it quickly turned into a painful blood curdling scream that broke my heart.  I felt so helpless that I couldn't console her.  I held her to my chest, stood up and bounced her a bit and then returned to the rocking chair with an increased speed of rocking and she seemed to calm down.  I must confess that when she screamed, it was a scream that I hope I never hear again, although I am certain I will. It sounded as though she was in pain and begging for someone to figure out the problem and it literally brought tears to my eyes... It was an eye opening (and humbling) experience as I had no idea what was wrong with her and all I wanted to do was to be able to console her.  With her diaper clean, her belly full and burped and cuddling with her for a bit, I decided to put her in her crib with her Nuk Nuk and she seemed to be content for the most part, until her Nuk Nuk fell out of her mouth.  Eventually she just didn't want her it anymore and she drifted off to sleep.  She slept well through the night and woke up this morning in good spirits and for the first time she actually smiled at me as a reaction and not a reflex and somehow the world is right again. 

                                            Marlene and Madyson                                       

Pa-Pa and Madyson

                 Madyson trying out her new blanket from Aunt Lorna

Just a cute photo.  <3 <3 <3

One small step in the right direction....

First let me say that the night before last was horrible... Madyson was up every 45 minutes to an hour with one stretch lasting a whopping 2 hours.  Yesterday I was walking around like a zombie and this even after Kevin took the early morning feeding to give me a little more time to sleep in.  So needless to say, I was worried yesterday when Madyson slept through the entire day, yes, the entire day!  She woke only to eat and when we bathed her.  Other than that, she was out all day.  I was worried that, because she had slept all day, I would be dealing with a very alert and fussy baby throughout the coming night.  In preparation for the anticipated long night ahead and knowing that he had a flight the next night, Kevin said he would take the early night feeding (11pm) in order to give me some sleep until about 2am.  To my dismay, I woke up to screaming around midnight and I figured "Here we go!".  Kevin said she was hungry so I got up, change and fed her and proceeded to put her down again anticipating a battle but low and behold, she went right down with her paci and no fuss.  "Ok, we should be good for another 2 1/2- 3 hours"... 5 HOURS LATER; I wake up and immediately start to panic because I have not heard any screaming to be fed, I rush to her room like the fire alram has gone off and she's sound asleep!  I walk over to her and put my hand gently on her chest to make sure and sure enough, she's breathing, content and still sleeping!  YES!  I am so esxcited and thouroughly proud.  I want to tell someone but no one is awake and I go back to bed smiling.  I lay there for a few minutes debating whether to wake her or not (as they say you don't wake a sleeping baby, but they also say you shouldn't let them sleep more than 5 hours at a time this young) so I head back into her room and wake her up to change and feed her.  "Well, it was good while it lasted" I thought.  At this point, I figure I am up for the rest of the morning but attempt to put her down again anyway and Viola!  She goes right back down?!?!  Awesome!  Not wanting to stick around too long for her to realize it's morning, I leave her room and go back to bed for another 3 1/2 hours.  Needless to say it was a good night.  I am hoping tonight will go just as well but am expecting the worst and hoping for anything better than the night before last.  =)

One of her favorite napping spots; Kevin's lap...

Another one of her favorite napping spots...

Pictures!

Marlene and Madyson taking a little nap!

Pa-Pa and Madyson doing a little tummy time!  Madyson loves to kick her legs!

Witching Hour and Sleep routine

So, Week 3 started out pretty standard, or as standard as it could be for only two weeks having past anyway.  Madyson sleeps most of the day and wakes only to eat.  Until day 15; Madyson's day seemed to be going like any other day, waking every 2 1/2 - 3 hours to eat and then right back to sleep, until around 9-10pm.  At this point she is awake and screaming!  Not just crying, but a heart wrenching scream!  Kevin or I would check her diaper, feed, burp and cuddle her but still nothing seemed to console her.  Thinking she might be hungry and going through another grow spurt, I would try and feed her again but this seemed to only frustrate her more.  After talking with Meredith, and doing a little reading, it seems as though we were only compunding the problem.  So, now we go through everything to see if all her needs are met; fed, changed, burped, swaddled and cuddled.  If she is still crying, we put her in her crib with a Nuk Nuk (pacifier) and BAM!  She's quiet and content.  This usually begins after the 9pm feeding.  She will take her Nuk Nuk, calm herself to sleep and then the rest of the night it's onto a nightly 3 hour schedule with no Nuk Nuk, just feed and put back to bed and she's out!  Oddly enough, Madyson will not take a pacifier any other time during the day other than during this "Witching Hour" (although most nights it doesn't last an hour at all). 

As for the sleep routine, it's non existent at this point.  For some reason I had this expectation that Madyson would be sleeping through the night by week 4 (I know, I know) I realize this is unrealistic and sleep training for the long term is good to start after 6 weeks of age.  So for now, we're going with the flow and following her lead.  Thankfully that lead seems to be falling into a pretty regular schedule that we don't have keep her on ourselves. 

As of today she is staying awake a little longer during the day and generally likes just being near us, which is great because we like being near her too!  =)  She also found her thumb today.  Mom wasn't getting to her fast enough to feed her so she consoled herself by sucking on her thumb.  I am happy that she was able to console herself but then started to worry about how I would get her to stop doing it (and then decided to worry about that when/if it becomes an issue).

Also, dad made a craddle for Madyson that he had delivered last week.  Here are some recent photos of Madyson and her craddle.