Baby Blog

April was filled with lots of work travel for Dad and a trip to Myrtle Beach for us. We spent the first half of the month dashing from class to class, making up all of the ones we missed when you were sick or we were traveling. We went to a Stroller Strides event at Club Monaco, but you were mostly unhappy the whole time and cried while I tried on a few dresses for the upcoming weddings we have this summer. We went to visit the Easter Bunny at the Watertown Mall, who you LOVED. It was especially nice because there was no line and you were able to take your time meeting him before sitting on his lap. You had a huge smile for your picture and he gave you a grape lollipop, which was the only consolation for having to leave him. We went to an Easter egg hunt the weekend before Easter where you put four or five eggs in your basket before you decided watching the other kids was more fun.

We flew down to South Carolina on our own; you slept through the first flight and were pretty fidgety for the second, but thankfully that one was only 45 minutes long. We spent the week in Myrtle Beach, sharing a four bedroom suite with Papa, Rara, A. Dani, Gabi and Natalie and Daddy and U. Eric came to join us halfway through. You were super excited to see Papa when we arrived and immediately wanted to go to him. Your Papa obsession continued throughout the trip and you would wake up and ask for him first thing each day. We were right on the beach and you LOVED the ocean and the pool. Even though the ocean was cold, you would’ve spent every second in it if we had let you and we took turns rotating who would stand at the water’s edge with you. Your obsession with balls continued and you were desperate for one anytime you saw someone playing on the beach, so Papa bought you a volleyball to play with plus we got you a beach ball for the pool and a ping pong ball from the vending machine. This just about kept you happy… until you saw some boys playing football and wanted one of those too. You don’t sit still for very long in restaurants these days so we spent most lunches and dinners walking around outside, up and down the sidewalk. You sampled many different soups – the crab soup at Key West Grill being your favorite – and that continues to be the safest bet when ordering for you in a restaurant. At the end of the week, you came down with some sort of eye infection and we spent a morning in the urgent care, getting you some prescription eye drops. (And luckily no one else came down with it.) You stayed up late playing with (or… around) your cousins and watching the fireworks from our balcony that people would shoot off on the beach each night.

When we came back to Boston, we took our first Stroller Strides class with Lana. You were absolutely miserable and desperate to get out of the stroller, crying the entire class. I knew you would be, although I was hoping my iPhone full of Elmo music videos would keep you content for at least a little while. You don’t much like the stroller these days, preferring to walk yourself or be carried when you get tired. The next day, we had lunch at Friendly’s with Lana (broccoli and pickles only for you) and then went to see some drummers at the library. We met Meredith and new baby Jack in the North End for a picnic which was really nice until you fell and skinned your mouth, ending in tears (and a very fat lip). Dad had his Holy Cross alumni soccer game which we went to watch with Molly. You liked when he would take you down to the field so you could be close to the action and didn’t seem to mind that it was freezing cold that day!

You have continued your run of not sleeping and I have mostly given up on trying to get you to sleep through the night because that only seems to make things worse. You go to sleep each night between 7:30 and 8pm, waking up at some point between midnight and 2am to eat. From that point on, you are in our bed and usually eat another one to three times before you wake up for the day between 7 and 8am. I wish I knew how to get you to stop nursing constantly throughout the night, but every time I try to get you to sleep without eating, you just cry and cry. <> I am getting by knowing that at some point between now and college, you HAVE to start sleeping through the night. (Right??) Moving on… You finally had another tooth break through, the bottom right one on April 28th. We introduced you to the potty and you sit on it after you wake up each morning, going poo-poo or pee-pee most days. (We still have awhile before we start potty training, but we figured getting you used to the idea wasn’t a bad plan.) You are adding even more words each week, like “shoe” and “tissue”. You are signing “all done” and “more” even more often now, although you’ve stopped signing for milk almost completely which is sort of odd. You know where your hair, toes, nose and hands are (although for nose, you ALWAYS touch our noses instead of your own). You say “hoo! hoo!” for owl, but my favorite is elephant where you make the noise and raise your arm for the elephant’s trunk. You’ve turned the corner on stickers and seem to like them now, although only on your clothes – not your hand. We still have classes on Wednesdays and share an Indian food lunch from the food court before it starts. (You love the spinach and I sneak in a little chicken between bites to try to get your iron up). Class has gotten a little bit harder with your nap time and you’re often very sleepy during it and fall asleep in your stroller the second we leave. You have gotten a bit gentler these days and I don’t have to worry about you pulling anyone’s hair in class anymore! You got a soccer ball from the Easter bunny and your kicking has much improved. Playing on the playground has gotten more fun and you love the swings and the slide (although you always want to go up the slide instead of down).