Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

It's been an exciting past week or so.  We managed to make it up to Seattle and back in one piece, and without upsetting really anyone on either flight.  I spent the majority of the first flight standing up in the back of the plane with Jayden - we did not bring the baby bjorn on the plane, so by the time we got to Seattle my arms were dead tired.  Luckily the flight attendants were very friendly, and just about everyone was smitten with Jayden, so we were treated very nicely.  And the bottle/pacifier combination for take-off and landing seemed to work just fine; no ear pressure trouble as far as we could tell. 

In Daddy's arms on his first airplane.

The visit in Seattle was wonderful - and surprisingly involved very little rain! We mostly hung around the house on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Monday we ventured into downtown Seattle (and took advantage of the comfortable Nordstrom Women's Lounge for a couple of feedings and diaper changes). And Tuesday we were back home again. Between my mom, my sister and myself I have about eighteen gazillion pictures, so I'm just going to put up a couple from each day.

For any Duke fans - Jayden finally got appropriate Duke gear, and is SO happy about it! (Christmas eve)

Barb, Leigh, Ellen and Jayden went for a walk in the Grand Forest on Bainbridge on Christmas Eve.  Who knew Jayden loved the outdoors so much - he was smiling the whole time, until he fell completely asleep.  Thanks Nana Becky for the awesome (and really warm) outfit!



Some quality tummy time with Grandpa Allan on Christmas Eve.

Having a "moment" with Auntie Ellen on Christmas morning, in his cute Christmas onesie.  Soon after this there was a diaper situation and the onesie had to be retired.  Oh well. 



This was rotated properly, but when I uploaded it, it rotated back . . . I don't know what happened.  Anyway, this is Jayden with Nana Becky on Christmas night.

Family photo - Christmas dinner.  In the background - yay for the NBA season starting!

Another rotation problem.  Rockin' the super warm hat Jayden got from Mama and Daddy for Christmas (and really just for Seattle).  In the car on the way into downtown Seattle on 12/26/2011.

Meeting Auntie Maya on the day after Christmas - she was so cuddly and comfortable that Jayden fell right asleep.

Happily hanging out on a Nordstrom couch with Grandma Barb.  He truly is his parents' child.  12/26/2011

With Grandma Barb and Grandpa Allan on the ferry boat from Bainbridge to Seattle.  He is officially a Bainbridge boy with his Bay Hay & Feed t-shirt.  12/27/2011

Jayden has his track suit on, ready for his morning run with Mama.  (thanks Auntie Ellen)  You can guess who got more of a workout...  12/29/2011.

Last time Jayden met Aunt Stacy he was way smaller.  But now Jayden gets to grab her hair, which is super fun for everyone involved.  12/29/2011.



Jayden and Daddy in more Duke gear, while the Blue Devils destroy Western Michigan.  12/30/2011.

We were nervous about the trip home, because I'd somehow managed to book us on a 6:30 pm flight.  We thought it had the potential to be a disaster, since bedtime is usually around 7 or 7:30 pm.  Turns out it was ideal.  Jayden was fussy (because he was tired) for the first 15 minutes or so.  Then he passed out and slept in my arms until we were landing, when he gulped down a bottle.  He was then fine until we got home and put him right back to bed.  Perfect! 

It's been a good, but busy, week.  Carmen is out of town again, probably until Monday or Tuesday.  We're hoping for Monday so that I don't have to do my first day of work by myself, but we'll see what happens.  And yes, that's right, I did say my first day of work.  I go back Tuesday.  I can't believe it's here already.  I got more time than a lot of people, but it still didn't feel like enough.  If any of you happen to think of it, think positive thoughts on Tuesday and just keep telling me it's going to be okay and it will all work out.  Because I'm just not totally sure at this point.  As excited as I am to go back, Jayden just seems so small and it seems so wrong to leave him!  But it will be good for me, and for Jayden and you guys can just keep reminding me of that (please).  :)

A whirlwind of a holiday, but fun and so good to see friends and family.  For those of you we didn't get to see, hopefully we'll catch up soon, either in SoCal, or wherever you are located. 

Also, Jayden also got to meet Aunt Kelly and Uncle Mike on the 22nd, but I completely forgot to get a picture!  I guess they'll just have to come back another time...  

Duke baby

"Watching" the Duke game with Mama and Daddy in his Duke gear.

News flash

I know, I know, I said I probably wouldn't post until after we got back from our trip.  But Oh. My. Gosh. The reason I have time to do this before we go to the airport today is that our amazing little baby slept through the night last night!  Like really and truly slept through the night.  We put him down around eight, and then soothed him around 8:15 pm.  Then, at 5 am, Carmen wakes up and asks me "he didn't wake me up . . . did he wake you up?" And turns out he didn't wake me up.  Seriously amazing.  He woke up, on his own, around 6:00 am!  So he slept for about 10 hours.  What baby goes from waking up twice a night to not waking up at all, just like that?!?  Apparently our baby. 
We had gone to bed a little late, due to packing and preparing, resigning ourselves to the fact that we just weren't going to sleep much.  Turns out we (or at least I) got the most consecutive hours of sleep I've ever gotten P.J. (post-Jayden) - about 5-1/2 hours! 
He wasn't grinning when he woke up, but once he was fed he was pretty happy.  Not that he'll smile for the camera, though...

I'm ready for the airplane!  For a hilarious dialogue of babies on a plane, check out http://www.npr.org/2011/12/22/144123663/have-pacifier-will-travel-babies-on-board

We're not counting on this being repeated, but he picked a great night to at least try it out.  And when it does happen again, we'll be just as thankful.  Merry Christmas to us!  Best early Christmas gift ever.

First Christmas!

Since Carmen and I won't be in SoCal for actual Christmas day, we had our own Christmas celebration last night with Jayden.  It was short and sweet, since it was just about Jayden's bedtime.  We danced to some Christmas music and opened the two (tiny) gifts that Carmen and I got Jayden.  Since he's so young and since he has so many other people buying him things, Carmen and I decided it wasn't necessary for us to do much for him this year.  In the future, when he's more aware, we'll get him more things - but even then, we'll probably try to hold back so that he doesn't get completely spoiled! 
Jayden also had a few gifts from friends, in particular a very cool book from his friend-to-be (when Jayden's older and their 1 year age difference doesn't matter so much) Kian Vakili:

As with most things these days, the book went straight into his mouth, but we're pretty sure that means he loved it! 

Mommy and Daddy got him some cold weather gear and some warm weather gear - a hat and jacket for cold weather and the coolest baby sunglasses for our walks with Jasmine!

Jayden also went with Mommy to meet her friend Shilpa and her daughter - who is two weeks younger than Jayden but looks about half his size.  She weighed two pounds less than Jayden at birth and you can totally tell!  After that, Jayden and Mommy went to PLC's holiday party.  It was pretty loud in there and that wasn't so fun for Jayden, but he got all kinds of love and eventually fell asleep so Mommy could scarf down her lunch.  It was nice to be part of the office again, but scary to think that I'll be back there in less than two weeks, and not with Jayden this time!

Tomorrow we leave for Seattle; I'm not sure how we're going to get all of us and our luggage (suitcases, stroller, carseat, carry-ons, etc.) on the airplane, but we'll do our best.  At least we don't have to buy a ticket for Jayden yet, so that's one less expense.  It'll be a short trip to Seattle, but good to see family and friends.  I may not be able to post again until we get back on the 27th, so we hope everyone has a very happy holiday!

Time flies!

It's been a week and no post!  I'm so sorry - something about the holidays has been keeping me busy, I guess.  Sadly, I don't have many pictures to update either - I'll have to be better about that too.  The only one I really have is this:

Which is just a funny one of Jayden napping last week (he could breathe - don't worry, I checked).

So, what happened this past week . . . well, Carmen was out of town for 3-1/2 of the 7 nights.  We actually did okay for most of them.  The hardest part, as I've said before, is just the isolation - the not having any other grown-ups to interact with on a daily basis.  But we survived and for the next few weeks Carmen's travel schedule should be a little better.  We'll see. 
I ran a bunch of errands, getting ready for the holidays and trying to get us ready for the big first airplane trip - so scary!  I've made my list - those who know me well know I hardly ever go on a trip without making a list of what I'm taking first - but I'm totally afraid I'm going to forget something.  I guess worst case we have to buy a duplicate of whatever it is on the way home from the airport.  So long as we remember to bring Jayden, we should be good!

Thursday was a big night - Carmen and I actually went out by ourselves and left Jayden with a babysitter!  So crazy.  We even had the babysitter put him to bed.  It was the Athletes First holiday party - we had some excellent Mexican food and then saw Jay Mohr at the Irvine Improv.  Even though this blog is all about Jayden, since it's Jayden's world through Mama's eyes, I get to include one picture of just me and Carmen:

Last night we finally were able to decorate our tree!  I had put lights on, but no ornaments.  So Carmen and I filled our tree with ornaments.  I'm so happy Carmen and I agree that trees don't need to be perfect and color-coordinated.  I much prefer hanging the same ornaments I've hung since I was 5 years old and remembering who gave me which ornament and why, etc.  And I plan to do the same with Jayden; starting this year, there will be a box of "Jayden's ornaments," even though there may only be one or two in it this year!

Jayden hung out in his first Christmas present from Mom and Dad - a swing!  (we're not totally convinced this is the best swing we could have got - but we're going to see if it does what we need it to do; it just doesn't entertain him much).  Here are some pictures from the evening:

Carmen adding some ornaments and singing to Christmas songs while Jayden looks on - and tries to sing along!  He'd thrown in a "ooh" or two every once in a while!

Jayden getting a peek at the tv (and being mesmerized by it) while Mommy takes a picture of him with the decorated tree in the background...

Jayden being entertained by Mommy.

 We've got a calm week ahead of us - until the airplane on Friday.  I will do my best to snap a few more pictures and post more frequently. 

I forgot...

to tell you the following:
We weighed and measured Jayden too, mostly for fun.  He now measures about 26-1/4" long - which according to babycenter.com is above the 95th percentile (as if we didn't expect that), and weighs about 14 pounds, 4ish ounces, which is between the 50th and 75th percentile.  Basically, he's staying consistent with what he was at 2 months.  We'll see what the doctor says at 4 months (that's the next time we see the doctor), but it seems to us like he's progressing well. 

Also, as far as a sleep update - something about Carmen being in the house . . . last night he went to bed around 8 pm, slept until 1:30 am (when Carmen fed him) and then slept again until 5:30 am.  He then slept for about an hour or so until 7:30 am, when a dirty diaper woke him up.  He napped really well yesterday, and I have read that good naps make for good nighttime sleepers.  So, I tried to make sure that he got sufficient naps in today.  We'll see how tonight goes . . . here's hoping for the best.

Three, seriously, THREE, months!

Today is the three month anniversary of Jayden's birth.  Seriously amazing.  Every day I wonder if we're going to make it another day . . . and then we do. 
I tried to take a three month picture, but he was not having it.  So I got these two instead:

 Not terrible, but one day I'd love to get one of him smiling...


Carmen came home for about 42 hours - from late Saturday night until this afternoon.  We took advantage of all being together and went to get our Christmas tree!

A nice lady offered to take our picture for us!

I've put up our Christmas decorations and there's even one present under the tree - for Jayden of course.  :)  We'll wait until Carmen gets home (which will be Wednesday) to put the ornaments on the tree. 
Because of, well, everything (Carmen's travel schedule, having a 3 month old, etc.), Carmen and I may not get our gifts out on time.  We'll do our best, but we're just not making any promises.  However, Jayden's gifts will be in the mail later this week!

An update: we did finally pick a daycare.  It's a mixture of the ones we looked at; an in-home environment (run by a grandma - her grandson is one of the children she takes care of) with a structured preschool curriculum for when he is older.  It still wasn't an easy decision, but that has to do more with the decision of sending him somewhere at all, not with the decision of sending him to this particular place. 

We are having "winter" weather here in Southern California - rain all day.  Of course I found it to be beautiful and was telling Jayden how awesome rain is and how much he should enjoy it.  Somehow I think he's going to grow up a spoiled Southern California boy...

So cool...

To watch Jayden learn and progress. He's started bringing his hands together, grabbing at toys, and generally being more interactive.
Also, Grandma Barb totally wins: I think part of the reason Jayden wouldn't go back to sleep in his crib the past few nights was because he was cold. Last night the heater was on, and he went back to sleep no problem. He still wanted to eat every 2-1/2 to 3 hours after the 1 am feeding, which is not okay, but at least he slept in his own room...

Amazing!

Jayden rolled over today!  He only did it once - I put him on his stomach and reached for my soda.  As I was turning back, he had flipped over from his stomach to his back!  So cool!  I of course then put him back on his stomach, waiting for him to do it again, but no such luck.  He tried really hard and he definitely knows how to do it again - I think he was just worn out.  Here's the video of the attempts to roll over after he did it:

He got on to his side, but not fully over to his back.  I'll try again over the next few days to get a full roll over on video.  Five days short of three months - and he's rolling over. As I said to Carmen, we are now officially screwed and have to be even more super careful about where we put him now.  At least he's not yet rolling from his back to his stomach...

(by the way, yes we know his hair is crazy . . . there's nothing we can do about it right now...)

Need. More. Sleep.

This has been a mixed week - some good things, some frustrating things - some progress, some regression.  As of last week, Jayden was finally working on a more regular sleep schedule - to bed around 7 or 8 pm, waking up for a feeding between 2 and 3 am usually and then waking up for good between 6 and 7 am.  A schedule all of us could handle and almost got used to!  We thought maybe we had a breakthrough and maybe he'd soon start sleeping 7 to 5 or 7 to 6. 
And then...the last three nights happened.  I don't know if it's because Carmen is out of town and not doing the middle of the night feeding or what, but it's caused me all kinds of problems...  I put him down at the same time, around 7 or 8 pm.  He sleeps three to four hours, waking up around midnight-ish, then again at 3 am, then again at 6 or 7 am.  That's not terrible, but what is frustrating is that after the midnight feeding, he won't go back to sleep in his crib.  No matter what I do, or how asleep he is when I hold him, as soon as I put him in the crib he wakes up and is soon upset and crying.  Basically, Jayden ends up sleeping with me from midnight to six (and I end up in tears at some point), with one wake-up for feeding.  I don't know where this is coming from, but I keep waiting for it to blow over . . . and without Carmen home I can't really go to bed any earlier since Jasmine needs to be walked.  So, ultimately, it leads to me sleeping even less than normal (like 4-1/2 to 5 hours a night, in three 1-2 hour increments). 

Now some good news:  Jayden is still incredibly cute and is learning more and more every day.  This past weekend he "discovered" himself in the mirror for the first time:

He stared at himself and made noises at himself for a minute or two before the giraffe and monkey hanging over his head distracted him again!

Since Carmen was out of town (and Grandpa Allan was in Florida), Grandma Barb came to visit this weekend.  It was incredibly helpful - she helped me not feel bad about getting eating out for every meal (and she treated - woohoo!) and she took care of Jayden so I could go to yoga and get a pedicure (long overdue).  Plus, she gave me the opportunity to have grown-up conversation, which is so important to my sanity.  Here are a couple of pictures:

Yes, Grandma took a picture as Jayden was about to cry - he does make a good sad face.  And look at those eyes in the picture with me - so intense!

We also saw Santa this week:

Finally, last but not least, a day care update.  We have visited six different day care providers and I have discovered that what I thought I wanted is not actually what I feel most comfortable with.  I thought I wanted a small daycare, with one or two other children and one person.  Turns out I prefer a daycare with more kids (8-12, usually) and more grown-ups (2-3).  I have two finalists.  I am calling references for one and we will hopefully visit them again next Monday with Carmen and make a decision after that.  It's still a terribly difficult decision to make, but I am feeling better about the whole process since I have found two places where Jayden would be happy, safe and cared for.