Monday, February 18, 2008

The Wonder Weeks

There is a book called, "The Wonder Weeks: How to Turn Your Baby's 8 Great Fussy Phases into Magical Leaps Forward," which I, of course, have never actually read.

However, on Amazon.com, you can flip through the pages of this book and see when your baby is destined to have a "fussy phase" and when he/she will have a "sunny phase." I swear, the authors (shout out to you, Hetty Vanderjit and Frans Plooij!) know what they are talking about.

The book claims that right before a baby is about to leap forward, he/she will have a rapid change within their brains/within their nervous system, thus resulting in a fussy phase.

One of these fussy phases is between 33.5 and 37.5 weeks old. And, I can honestly say that this was true in our house! Especially between 36 and 37.5 weeks, this was my daughter 24-7:







For the last two weeks or so, Brenna has been so clingy. She has wanted me (and only me) to hold her at all times, she has had "VERY FUSSY" written on the top of her daycare sheets, and she has been crying a lot. We joked that she was having 8.5 month colic.

It got so bad last week, that Jamie took her to the doctor to rule out an ear infection. The doctor said her ears were fine, but her strength far surpassed her age when Brenna would not allow her to examine her. I honestly was a little disappointed to hear that there was no real reason for her miserableness, and feared it was permanent.

I googled The Wonder Weeks, which I remembered from her early screaming-her-head-off-first-2.5-months, and like those early days of motherhood-desperation, the authors didn't disappoint.

The book (or the stolen pages of the book on Amazon) reminded me that clingyness, crankiness and crying simply mean she is growing. These "three C's" are telltale signs that the child is making a major leap forward in development.

And then, amazingly, on Thursday, all of a sudden Brenna woke up with what we call her Sh*! Eating Grin, and the smile has not left her face since (five days strong!). Our child, at 38 weeks, is the happiest baby in the world. It's amazing.

Where are Hetty and Frans? I want to kiss them! I think everyone should read their book, or at least parts of it for free!

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Back off boys...

my shirt says it all!

I drool all over this guy!

What's not to love?

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!

This morning we dressed Brenna all in red for her first Valentine's Day, but she refused to look at me to take a picture because her BFF, the remote control, was in her hands.

When we got to daycare, her teachers presented me with her odd handprint Valentine, but I know it was made with the deepest love in her heart, so I'll treasure it always.

The carpet on the side of the Valentine is the floor under the desk in my office where it still is...by accident of course.


Tonight, we had to wait almost two hours for Jamie to get home from the mall with our California Pizza Kitchen dinner (my favorite, as my special gift, even though I told him it wasn't worth the wait).

While he was waiting for the food, he bought Brenna her first Valentine's Day gifts: two stuffed animals from the Disney store: Minnie Mouse and Nemo!

But, the cutest was the beautiful dress he picked out for her all by himself. She obviously was a HUGE fan of her first Valentine's Day...

Oh, well, I was impressed! All Jamie got from me was a card that said, "If love were a garden, I'd want to be your hoe."

Valentine's Day just keeps getting better and better as the years go by!

Sunday, February 10, 2008

Big boys turn one

Two of my best friends had baby boys that turned one on February 6th. Today we celebrated Shea's first birthday at Jen and Ryan's house. It was fun!

Here are pictures of Shea and Brenna:






Happy birthday, Shea, and happy birthday to Andrew, too!

Mother/Daughter Valentine's Breakfast

Erin and I participated in a popular parish event today after the 9:00 Mass - the Mother/Daughter Valentine's Day Breakfast. It was held at the site of Maura and Brenna's future K-8 school, and Maura told Brenna all about the exciting school buses and uniforms, as we ate pancakes and donuts.





Two tables over, Erin and I admired a woman (who we happened to go to high school with) as she effortlessly handled her three little girls alone... her two little boys were with her husband. And, they were all better behaved than our two girls with two adults! We think she should start a course.

What a difference 8 months makes

My parents put Erin and I in kindergarten when we were 4-years-old, so we were both always the youngest students in our classes (by a year or sometimes even two years) throughout our school days. My mom always worried my maturity level in comparison to my classmates, and I never understood why.

Until now. Now that I have a child of my own, I can actually see what difference even eight short months makes. It's almost like Brenna knows that Bobby younger than her, and she's a big girl now!






I'm eight months older than Jamie. We could have looked like this 28.5 years ago!

Our Valentine's Day Photoshoot...

...gone wrong








We love Old Navy!


On Saturday morning, before our cousin Michael's fiance's (Jen's) shower in New Jersey, we hit Old Navy's huge 40% Kid and Baby Sale.

Brenna scored with: 2 dresses, 2 shirts, 1 bathing suit, 1 skirt, 1 pair of pants/shorts, 1 hat, 2 pair of shoes and 10 pair of socks. My favorite is the plaid skirt she got that matches her 2 cousins' shorts (above).

And, it all cost less than the 4 shirts I bought myself. I love the Kid and Baby Sale!

Even better, is that at the shower, Jen (the bride) announced she was pregnant, so I guess she should hit the Kid and Baby Sale, too :).

Playing hooky

Of course, I'm biased, but I think Brenna could be the smartest baby alive.

She had a 102 degree fever (from teething, probably) on Thursday afternoon, so her teacher called me to pick her up. I was reminded that I could not bring her back on Friday due to their 24 hour sickness-free rule.

So, Brenna gave me another 3-day weekend. It just so happens that all of her sick days are on Fridays.

And, this is how she spent Friday (when her temperature was a hot 99.4):

Hey, there, Sit-and-Spin!


According to Maura, the steps = a mountain


Climbing the mountain!

So ill, I can't stand it!