V-day surprise for both his girls!!!

What a man I have!! Jack left for work earlier than he needed to this morning and I assumed it was because of the crabby mood I have been in lately and work was better than being home...lol. I was wrong....a little while later he came up the stairs with a beautiful bouquet of flowers for me that he ordered a week ago and the sweetest teddy bear for Kailey. I am glad I put her in the "dad's little princess shirt". We handed the bear to her and she immediately loved it. She hugged it!!! I was tearing up and grabbed the camera as quick as I could. This melted Jack's heart...she loves her daddy.

p.s. Don't forget to check out the post below...2 in one day!!!

Kailey Tries Some Cereal!!!

What a blast that was!!! She may be a bit early according to the local 'experts' but they also say when they double their birth weight they typically are ready for cereal and I know she is 14 lbs by now. I got the kind that you add formula to so I let her drink what she wanted of her bottle, because obviously that is the most important, and then with the couple of oz. she left behind I used the cap of the bottle and mixed in a tsp of rice cereal. She instantly blew raspberries and got it all over the place. She gabbed the entire time but she managed to swallow some and liked it a lot. At the end she even opened her mouth when the spoon came close. So funny. She really wants to help with her hands but this doesn't surprise me at all since from day one she has been very 'helpful'. It is going to be a blast feeding her solids in a few months. For now I think we will just do a tsp. in the morning for excitement before her bath...definitely before her bath!!! I took a video of this and I apologize that it is sideways but I had a blonde moment and forgot that I cannot rotate video like pictures. ;-)


Click on this link below and turn up your speakers!!!

http://s129.photobucket.com/albums/p220/sjrugg/video/?action=view&current=MVI_2462.flv

A Much Better Day So Far.

Last night she refused her last bottle from me & I really needed a Kailey break as I was teetering on the brink I am sure, so I asked Jack for help. He fed her and she took 5 oz. from him so that left me happy and also sad. I suspected I had something to do with this and obviously I was right. Jack was trying to make me feel better by saying that he just got lucky or he had a bottle that was working but I know she was feeding off my anxiety I am sure. She went to bed @ 10pm with only 22 oz. in her and didn't wake up until her usual 8am. She was happy and gabbing so I changed her diaper and that is when I realized the diaper didn't hold and her and her bed were soaked :-(...poor thing. After I changed her I made up a bottle while finding my 'Zen' and she drank 5 oz. without one complaint. WHAT?! She had a bath and went for a nap. Her next bottle was at 11am and she drank 4.5 oz (she would have had more but I only made up that much and I didn't want to chance a fight with the re-latch). She was happy the whole time. We went to Wal-Mart to get her the next size up in diapers to use for nighttime while we use up the current ones during the day. The ones she has been wearing are supposed to be good for up to 18 lbs so I thought we would be ok for a while but I guess not. Two people (ladies) looked in the cart at her and she was all smiles and even started talking to one lady....very very loudly. She wasn't playing strange at all so this is another head scratcher.

Oh yeah, I changed the template of the Blog for something different. I know it is not pink but she also looks good in blue...haha.

I can thank Zoe for helping Kailey with her sitting. Zoe rests her big head on the edge of the bed and Kailey manages to get her balance by staring and leaning toward her. Zoe is just hoping she falls toward her so she can lick her so she waits patiently.

Sitting up!!!

Here is Kailey sitting up unassisted. WOW!! We have made major progress with this. We have been practising every day and today was the first time she sat up with her back straight. Yahoooo Kailey Bear!!

So, her last 2 bottles were horrible. She drank only 3 oz. then the next one was 3.5 oz. What am I supposed to do? If she doesn't make min. 20 oz. today then I have to take her in. I wonder what the problem is...very strange. I gave her Tempra and we will see if that makes the next bottle better for her. I know if they are teething some babies will eat very little and make a fuss while sucking because of the pain. I have no clue and I feel so helpless and depressed. :-( She is hungry (normally by this time of day she has had double of what she has had today) as she is sucking her fingers and will suck on my finger like mad, but a bottle nipple...no way. I know she really has to work to get the milk out of the Avent but others are too fast so what am I supposed to do now? Wait it out? See if it gets better? She doesn't have a fever and is not sick from what I can tell. When the bottle is not in site she is happy. I probably screwed this up somehow...just like I screwed up the nursing. Can you tell I am spent and totally drained?! :-( Is this just part of Motherhood? Feeling like a total failure? Feeling like you are totally to blame for every little thing that is not 100%? No wonder people become depressed after pregnancy. Oh yeah, my hair is falling out at an alarming rate too. Other than all this life is good :-S.

Only 3 oz. before bed!

I thought for sure I would be up all night with Miss K due to the fact that she only took in 23 oz. all day and three of those were her last bottle. She actually slept 8 hours straight on that small amount of formula so I learned a ton from this. She has been eating 29-31.5 /day but I guess she will have light eating days and I just need to back off and not worry so darn much. She has been fighting bottles like crazy so I tried two new ones that appeared to be working better than her originals, but they flow too fast for her and she ends up choking and formula runs out the side of her mouth and of course this upsets her. She was really tired when she ate from one of the new ones so her sucking wasn't at full K-bear potential, but when she was wide awake there was no way that was a good situation. She has a very powerful sucking reflex so we are back to the original ADVENT with #1 nipples. She took 6.5 this morning and didn't fight the re-latch at all. I noticed something very important with these bottles though. The flow depends entirely on how tight you tighten the ring/nipple portion. I can adjust the flow to the point where a #1 flows way too fast. She had two faulty #2 nipples that I found so this would likely explain why she was upset at some feeding and ok with others. These are brand new, but one of them barely lets milk out and the other one flows like a tap.....grrrrrr. In total I have tried 5 different bottles and it really is frustrating for a new Mom to have so many choices....whatever happened to a simple bottle and nipple??? Without all the fancy valve systems, anti-colic nipples, collars, venting, bumpy nipple for teething & variable flow nipple that will only work if you bite down to open the hole. I was so fed up last night. All I want to do is feed my baby and do the best I can but when my equipment lets me down, Kailey and I lose all trust. :-( I am very lucky to have such a nice natured little girl. Through all this she is still laughing, talking (I really don't think anything would stop that now) and generally very happy. Last night when I lost it I was crying right along with her and this is the second time she has done this now (much better than her laughing at me), she put her little hands on my face and looked deep into my eyes with such a loving look. She had big tear drops running down her face and she managed to smile at me. She is such an awesome little girl and she trusts me and I do not want to let her down. I guess I need to ease up on myself because what good would I be to her if I was in some mental institute because of a breakdown?! All my life I have taken every job too seriously so I need to learn to relax and breathe...wish me luck with this one cause it will be my greatest challenge :-).

Nan and Grandpa Denis come to visit

It was a short visit but it was just awesome & so worth it to see her Nan holding her again. Kailey was awake for most of the visit so I was happy about that. She remembered Mom (or didn't play shy) but wasn't totally confident with Denis. She told Mom all about her life while laying naked on the changing pad...hahaha. She wore her little blue velvet dress and pantie combo and was pretty cute I think. She really likes the fact that the dress is like her own handy face cloth as it is always in her mouth it seems. I really wish we were closer to Edmonton, it just breaks my heart sometimes, but it is those little visits that mean so much. I really wish there was a way we could move closer but unless the Air Force up and moves we are pretty much stuck here.

I am starting to make videos of her that I think you will enjoy. The latest one is of her talking to Jack. Have I mentioned how much she gabs now?!...ALL DAY she is talking. Very funny noises are coming out of her now and some of them even shock her. She let out this mega squeal and it scared her enough that she started to cry. My sensitive little girl...jeez I wonder where she gets that from???? lol

Another new development that I just love is the fact that she likes to snuggle cheek to cheek. I hold her on my chest and she put her little cheek next to mine and just makes little sighing noises or falls asleep like that. We both end up with rosy cheeks from this but I just love how snugly she is. I swaddled her yesterday and that is really when I realized how big she has become. :-( It was nice wrapping her up but I cannot believe that the white blanket I used barley does the job and just a few short months ago she got lost in all the fabric of it. WOW!!!


Her videos can be found in the photo bucket site under Videos (funny that...hahaha).

Not a Creature was stirring...not even a DOG?!

All was very quiet this afternoon at the Ruggiero house. Everyone, except myself, took a nap at the same time. You could hear a pin drop which is very strange for this household. As you can see from this picture it is obvious why she wasn't a fan of side sleeping. This is her favorite sleep position. She seems to be turning her head more too so that is good.

We tried two new types of bottles and we are back with the original AVENT as the others were way crummy compared to what we have. We bought a Nuby and she sucked like mad and not a drop came out. Jack cleaned it and he tried sucking on it and he couldn't get a thing out of it either...it was comical seeing Jack sucking on a light purple bottle - ummmm, do not bring this up to him please. lol. I guess you have to bite down to open the valve...thanks but next. Playtex has been making bottles for years so I thought I would try that one. The Playtex advance to be exact....crap. It leaks, I cannot shake it at all, parts are made of crummy plastic but she drank from it without an issue. Her last bottle was with the Avent and she took it just fine?! She drank 6.5 oz. without much fussing at all. Maybe she realized how lucky she has it with the AVENT system...hahaha. She went to bed at 9:30pm - actually put her to bed during a commercial of Grey's Anatomy and she slept until 9am!! She was very hungry and drank 7 oz. with three stops and re-latched without a problem. Her last bottle (12:30) was the same way...she took 7 oz. re-latched no problem. I have no idea why...but I will take it.

She sure was gabbing this morning - for two hours straight to be exact. She is making all sorts of new noises that are hilarious now. I think she is calling me in her own sort of way too. I was in the kitchen washing bottles and I could hear her talking and then it got loud....squeal...pause...squuuueallll...pause. In her way it was a mommy call. I came to the living room and she resumed babbling at a normal volume. I guess she wanted to talk to me about why she was a pain with her bottles yesterday. lol She is enjoying tummy time a lot more now. She is getting stronger by the day.

Some New Developments!!

First off, doesn't she look cute in this onsie? Betty Poop. Thanks Auntie H.

So, side sleeping is going to be saved for naps and if she happens to roll herself there. She doesn't mind the position at all (so it appeared), but she has been waking up earlier and then night before last she woke up at 3am where I popped a soother in her mouth and she was happy until 5am when I fed her and put her back down until 9am. This is so unlike her and I noticed that she was also stirring a ton more since the position change. So I did a test as I wanted to make sure she wasn't getting up because of hunger pains...last night she was back on her back with her head turned to one side and she slept from 9:30pm - 8:15am...not a peep. She woke up gabbing not crying so back to the back it is!! She is napping right now on her side so it is good for short bursts I guess.

Feeding her has become somewhat of a challenge for some reason. She pulls off at about the half way mark (say 3 oz.) and gets burped and then she will not want to re-latch for some reason. This is bringing back terrible memories of my nursing days...same thing happened then. Suck...Suck...Suck....pull off and freak. :-( I gave her tempra for her last bottle and she took it much better than the ones throughout the day...could it be teeth??? Today she is doing better but the last bottle I had to give her a longer break (about 15 min) and then she drank the last half of the bottle no problem. Weird. She is on a faster flowing nipple as I thought that she was getting frustrated with how slow the other one was. Who knows.

I guess she is in a playing strange phase right now with people...booooooo. My friend took one of my pups to the Vet for me and when he dropped him off he came in to see Kailey and she smiled at first then when he got closer out came the lip. He picked her up and she was OK at first then started to cry. Yikes!!! When Jack was barely home for one week due to work she played strange with him a little bit too...I guess this is a stage most infants go through although not until later apparently.

She can sit on her own for 3-5 seconds now. The harder the surface the better, the bed is still too soft but she has a blast tipping over. Her crib is more firm so we practice there.

She is starting to roll from her tummy to her back...looks hilarious and she huffs and puffs and even grunts but the first time she did it she was totally impressed with herself. :-) This may have been a fluke the first 2 times as she hasn't wanted to today at all.

Her hair is growing enough that she wakes up with bed head!!

K-Bear Update

This update will not include a photo as I have officially used all the AA's (including robbing from remotes) in the Ruggiero household. I plan to take Kailey out today so that is definitely on my list, along with...hmmmm....formula - just for something different. lol

Side sleeping update:
Since re-positioning her to her side for all her naps and bedtime I have noticed a drastic change in her head shape already. She has not fought the new position at all so everything as far as ease of putting down for naps and bedtime is the same, if not easier. The first night she woke up once at 11pm but was fast asleep by the time I checked in on her. She woke up earlier than usual (not crying but talking) but she did maintain that position for 7.5 hours. I rolled her on her back and she then slept until her usual wake up time. The next night was the same except she didn't stir at all once she was sleeping, but she still woke up earlier than usual because she thought she couldn't roll to her back by herself in the crib?! She rolls all the time on the bed, pack n' play or on her play mat but those are a lot softer than the crib so maybe easier? So yesterday we spent some time practicing rolling to her back in the crib...Ta Da...I heard some stirring at 6:30 am(I have the monitor turned way up until I get a Angel Care monitor so I literally hear every breath now) I peaked in and she was kicking her little body over to her back and was sound asleep again. Not sure why she thought that she couldn't do this in the crib unless she is so sleepy she doesn't have the same strength that she does with a little nap during the day...who knows, but it is nice that she can roll herself back or fwd without my assistance.

Packing stuff away:
Yesterday was hard on this Momma. I took apart Kailey's Bassinet while crying like a baby the entire time. Why was that so hard?...in fact, I am welling up right now thinking about it. I have been avoiding this, but the time had to come as we are running short on space now. All the 'firsts' in that little bed. Her first grin, her first sneeze, her first thumb sucking (on the outside), Momma peaking in every 10 minutes and watching her sleep, bonding over the 3am feeding and being able to reach in and touch her anytime I wanted. I remember looking in at her the first night having her home and I couldn't believe how tiny she was in this 'massive' (actually tiny) bed and thinking how can I possibly be totally responsible for this little being, but at the same time wanting to take this challenge on with every ounce of my self, more than anything else in my life. A ton of memories in this frilly little bassinet...a ton...sniff.

I also decided to pack away her 0-3 month onsies and upgrade her to the 3-6. Once we got digging I am glad we did as we have 23 in this size some of which are sooooo cute and funny, standby for pictures....hahaha.

Laughing Update:
It would appear that her laugh is changing to more of a belly laugh that would put most grown men to shame. The first time she did this was a few days ago when Jack was holding her out to me. She was smiling up a storm and kind of giggling so I grabbed her little feet and said...jump...jump...jumperoo. Massive giggling followed. Jack and I just died laughing and we tried to get her to do it over and over but after the third time she gave us the look like....those are free anymore and it will cost ya!!

Feeding Update:
She is drinking about 28ish ounces in five bottles now. She is also starting to eye my food like a starving stray puppy. I feel so guilty while I am eating and she is in her Bumbo on the table watching me. She stares at my bowl and watches my spoon go to my mouth and then puts her hand in her mouth and starts sucking - she just finished her bottle too. I thought she wanted more milk so I made a 2 oz bottle and she freaked...no she just wants my taco's or salad...hahaha. I was holding her on my hip and eating a cracker and she reached out and tried to steal it. So while I eat I have 6 sets of eyes on me at all times. Two sets are Blue...no, not Jack...Parker dude. hahaha.

Drool factory:
My God can this kid drool. She drips now!! She shoves everything she can grab into her mouth. Her blanket animal gets it's legs sucked on daily, face clothes, my hands if they happen to go by her mouth, her rubber duckies in the bathtub...literally everything!! Her hands are totally wet all the time and she loves to discover my face with them although, she grabbed a hold of my chin and twisted and ended up scratching it....lesson learned. My hair must be tied back or else mit fulls end up in her mouth.

Ok, I better stop before I bore you all to tears. Sorry this one was so long!!

Jeans & Things...

Here are the jeans I was so pumped to find. They are pulled up under her armpits right now as the size is 4-6 mths but I guess she will get a lot of use out of them if she starts wearing them now.

She is having a blast in her Jumperoo it didn't take her long to figure out that things spin and make noise. She will be all calm and enjoying the toys and then something happens....her feet start moving and the jumping starts...not just normal 'baby' jumping but full on kicking/Irish dancing leg jumping. She gets this look on her face...it is all business and do not distract her....hahaha. She really gets a good work out in this and I love the fact that she is upright and off the back of her head.

She is rarely on her back now during the day. For her naps she is on her side or tummy and I am closely monitoring her (esp. tummy). It is very hard to try to 're-shape her flat spot when she sleeps 9-11 hours straight on her back every night. She will turn her head but in the morning when I go to her she is looking straight up. I have decided to try her on her side for more than this one reason. My reasoning is this: 1/ in the hospital the Nurses put her on her side despite the sticker that read 'Back to Sleep' & when I asked about it they didn't have a good explanation and they just said that it is habit. 2/ Once in a while she spits up large amounts and I had a nightmare last night that she was choking and I didn't hear her - needless to say I was up every hour from 2am on while little K-Bear was sound asleep. I read that babies have a natural reflex that if they start to vomit they will turn their head to one side...not always. I was folding her clothes the other day so I popped her on her back in her crib and turned the mobile on for her. I turned my back an continued folding and I heard this strange noise coming from the crib and I looked in and saw that she was spitting up and her head most definitely was not to one side. She was hacking and sputtering so I quickly turned her head and the spit up ran out of her mouth. Everything was A-Ok but it made me think, likely why I had the nightmare last night. 3/I slept on my side and pretty well anyone over the age of 10 did and we are all ok...some of us more than others...hahaha. So, we will see what happens as she can easily roll to her back if she wants. 4/My motherly instinct are telling me to.

I have decided 'they' will likely determine that back sleeping is no good along with everything else we are presently told to do in the next 10 years. hahahahaha.