Napping in the tub

Fiona has been sleeping through the night pretty well so we decided that we should start trying to move her bed time up.  We haven't quite got the hang of it yet.  Around 8pm, no matter when we have last fed her it seems, she wants to eat.  The sticky part is that if we feed her then as the last feeding of the night, she wakes up in the middle of the night.  Of course, when she is fussy at 8pm, my tolerance for fussing is low and so I generally just feed her instead of us wearing ourselves out with other comfort methods.  The result is the tub nap.  She's ready to sleep for the night but the evil parents wake her for bath a and bottle before bed since she is guaranteed to wake around 3 am if we don't.   I feel like there should be a comment bubble over her head saying, "Come on!  You guys are smart enough to figure out a better bed time routine for me.  Don't let me get this sleepy by bathtime." 

Partying with the Donohue's

This Saturday we went to Uncle John and Aunt Mary Jean's for an end-of-summer party.  In honor of the occasion, she wore the adorable dress they had given her.  She practiced rolling over on her picnic blanket, watched her cousins play, and had an all around good time.  She even got to suck on daddy's beer bottle.  Almost anything that she can put into her mouth to give her relief is fair game right now.  

 

On Sunday she ditched the party dress for hoodie footed pajamas to run errands with us.  It was a chilly 50 degrees here in the Pocono this morning so the hoodie came in handy earlier in the season than expected, and it is a darn adorable addition to her wardrobe.

Four months old!

Fiona is one-third of a year old!  She's had a rough week, but she drummed up a smile for her photo.  It may be hard to tell, but her feet are up and crossed, which is her thing nowadays.  She has even begun grabbing her feet.  But her favorite things to do as a 4-month-old are to blow raspberries and look at herself in the mirror.  I just hope she gets back to her happy self soon.

Teething?

Remember when I said Fiona is such a happy baby, we are lucky parents, she is a pleasure to come home to, yadda, yadda, yadda?  Well, I take it back.  She has been fussy mess the last few nights.  It is likely that she started teething, so I should cut her some slack because I know it must be uncomfortable.  She's drooling a lot, and shoving her hands (or anybody's hands that she can grab) in her mouth.  Fi's also been crying quite a bit, which is very unlike her.  Last night was the worst.  I tried every trick in the book for calming her: feeding, cuddling, sitting up, laying down, etc.  I was resorting to checking her diaper when all the sudden she just passed out.  With her outfit unbuttoned at the bottom, I just draped my baby blanket (made by my Grandmom) over her and let her sleep.  Fortunately, she seems to be back to her happy self tonight, but I know teething can be a long process so I am prepared for some ups and downs this next month.

Blog catch-up

At Janie's Christening

It's been a while since my last post, since life has been catching up with me, but Fiona has been doing terrific.  Our social butterfly was out and about last weekend.  She celebrated Janie's christening and her buddy Clarie's birthday for her first trip to Philly.  She also got to visit Mom-mom and my cousin Dougie who was up from Texas at Aunt Tadpole and Uncle Mark's house.

In the Moby wrap

Then last week, I spent a couple long days at the New York Botanical Garden, so my mom stayed with Fiona.  She was apparently pretty good for my mom, and she was an absolute cutie pie in the evening.  Her new favorite thing is playing baby joey to mama kangaroo.  Colleen's friend gave me a Moby wrap, and Fiona just loves when I wrap her in front of me.  We play who's the baby in the mirror.  I take her in front of any mirror in the house and say, "Fiona, look at that baby!"  She smiles, giggles, and kicks her feet.  She is so pleasant to come home to after a long day.

Visiting Mrs. Karen

This weekend, we spent Saturday in Reading so Tim could work on his car.  He worked while Fiona, Nana, and I went to visit Mrs. Karen.  Not only did she get to see Mrs. Karen, but she got to hang out in her garden and visit with her cat and horse.  Our little girl has definitely jumped right on into our hectic life just fine.

         

From Cradle to Crib

In her cradle

It was a busy work week for me, with two full days onsite at Liberty Science Center, so I don't have much to report on the Fiona front.  However, Fiona is officially sleeping in the crib in her room after having slept in a cradle in our room for the last few months.  The cradle was built by Tim's dad and his two grandfathers before his sister Colleen was born.  It's a little creaky but very beautiful.  We put it just inside the door below a poster of a Da Vanci Madonna; it seemed appropriate for the Madonna to be watching over baby Fiona as she grew and grew and grew until she was too long for the cradle!  It was a bit unsettling when I came home to find the cradle gone but it was time.  Fiona's been doing terrific in her luxuriously spacious crib so far.  Hopefully, she has been getting some good restful sleep, so she can visit the birthday girl (Claire) and birthday boy (my Dad) this weekend!

Big trip to the Big Apple

Our little Fiona had a very exhausting weekend in New York.  I had to work at the New York Botanical Garden on Friday and Saturday, so we went to stay with Aunt Mary in Bronxville on Thursday night since it is just a 15-minute train ride from the Garden.  Of course, as would any social butterfly, she scheduled a pit stop on her way to Bronxville and started her weekend early with dinner and drinks with Tim's coworkers in Denville.  That tuckered her out enough to sleep through her trip across the Hudson. 

Fiona hung out with Aunt Mary and Winnie dog on Friday until Tim and I finished work.  She is so nosey that she just wouldn't take a nap.  Maybe she was spending her time trying to figure out the brown fuzzy thing who gives her slobbery kisses on her toes.  

On Saturday, the weather was a little spotty, but Tim and Aunt Mary were able to bring her on her first train ride out to the Bronx to visit me at the Botanical Garden.  I didn't get to spend much time with her at the Garden, but I did get to show her the wetlands in the Adventure Garden.  She spent the rest of the time strapped to Tim so that she could take everything in.  By the end of Saturday, our gal was pooped.

 

But Fiona is such a trooper that she rallied for a trip all the way into Manhattan for a visit to the Guggenheim.  I had the James Turrell exhibition marked on my to do list since the moment I found out about it.  He happened to be the artist that I gave my seminar on when I did my internship at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, so it was pretty cool that Fiona's first trip to the Guggenheim was to see his exhibition.  Fiona seemed to have an eye for Afrum I, one of his earlier works although Aten Reign blew me away.  My friend Emily met us there, which made the day all the better.  Fiona had an excellent tour guide, and she got some behind the scenes access to see how Aten Reign was constructed and mounted, plus she got a one-of-a-kind view of Manhattan from the top of the Museum.  It was an awesome day!  Thanks Emily!