12 Months of Evelina :: In Pictures

You know I couldn't let Evelina's 1st Birthday milestone pass by without a video in pictures, so without further ado, 12 Months of Evelina, in pictures (and yes, I know she isn't a boy, I just fell in love with the song). 

PS: Sorry it is so long. I honestly think I took more photos of her in the past year then have been taken of me in my entire life. I need to get better about using the Flip video camera.

Oh, Happy Day

One year ago today 2 little lines appeared that would change the course of our lives.  This most wonderful year has been full of anticipation, excitement and fear with the arrival of our precious, sweet and beautiful daughter. We can't wait for the next year, and the next, and the next.....

Giggles

Evelina is a very smiley baby (when she wants to be that is!!) and I have been waiting for the day that I would hear the sweet sound of her first giggles.  She has attempted over the last few weeks but couldn't quite get it, until today that is...her 4 month birthday.  When I arrived to pick her up at "school" she was chilling out in the bouncy seat grabbing at a blankie.  I walked over to her to say hello and get her ready to head home and she flashed her cute smile.  I put my hands under her little arms for a quick tickle and to my surprise the smile turned into giggles.  I was so excited and started laughing myself so she continued with her giggles.  I seriously can't stand her cuteness!!  Once we arrived home I started her bedtime routine and she would just look at me and giggle.  SO CUTE!!  I am hoping this trend continues so that I can get it on video and share with you all.  What a great 4 month accomplishment!!  

PS:  This photo has nothing to do with giggles, I just like it!!  

Tummy Time

Tummy time has been more successful these days but has to be strategically planned to avoid an eruption of spit-up or tears.  During this particular segment, Lina was especially happy to be joined by Papa.  She was much more interested in smiling at him then looking at the woman with the camera. 

 

Major Milestone!!

I NEVER thought the day would come for which Lina would sleep more than a 6 1/2 hour stretch.  So many of my mom friend's babies have been sleeping 8+ hour stretches for weeks (and some haven't gone beyond 3 hours...uggh) but our little Lina was consistently sleeping 4-6 hours stretches for over a month equaling about 9 1/2 hours at night with a wake-up time of 7am with no progress with her long sleep stretch.  I'm not complaining.....4-6 hours is GREAT when compared to the 1-2 hour stretches she would have as a newborn. 

But this weekend, we hit a MAJOR milestone!!  On Friday night, we put her to bed at 8:30p and was expecting her to wake up at about 2am but 2am came and went.  I thought for SURE she would wake up by 4am but 4am came and went.  At this point, "the girls" were about ready to explode so I gave Chris the monitor and told him that she was moving around so was definitely going to get up when I was downstairs (since that's what she usually does) so he would need to feed her while I pumped.  When I went back up to bed 15 minutes later, they were still both zonked. At this point, I had already been up since around 2:30a waiting for her to wake up and I was irritated because if she woke up at around 5 or 6am then that would throw her consistent wake-up time of 7ish out the window!!  Babies...they are so unpredictable.  5am came and went, 6am came and went and voila...it was 7:15am!!  I just couldn't believe it.  Our little girl who had only ever slept 6 1/2 hours at the longest, slept for 10 hours and 45 minutes straight!! Yahoo!! I was so proud of her and mad at myself for not sleeping the entire time and taking advantage of the situation since I was certain this was just a fluke and she would be back to her old ways (which aren't sooo bad!!) in no time.  


Fast forward to last night.  She entered dreamland around 8:30p once again after a nice massage, a tight swaddle, lullaby singing and a bedtime feeding (followed by nasty Zantac).  I was exhausted after my lack of sleep on Friday night so I quickly went to bed assuming she would wake up at around 2am.  Nope!!  And I didn't either which was a bonus.  4am came along and she was still out like a light.  At about 5am I heard her crying (shoot!!) so I flipped on the video monitor to check her out and within 10 seconds she was back asleep until 7:15a!!  WOOHOO!!  Two nights in a row!! What a major accomplishment!!  

Now, as positive as I would like to be that this trend is going to continue, my experience with with Lina and after hearing tons of stories from other moms, I wouldn't be surprised if tonight she woke up every 3 hours again.  But if she could keep this streak going for at least this week, I would REALLY appreciate it since I'm sure it would help make my first days back at work much easier.  

1st Day of School

Yesterday was Lina's first day of "school".  She is growing up!!  Don't get me wrong, I am excited for her to go to daycare to learn and grow into a social child but I am just not ready yet.  It's only been 14 weeks and we are sending her out into the baby world...it just seems to soon!! It is harder on us than her but I'm certain that once we get into a routine, it will become normal and not as difficult each day to leave her. But either way, she will always be our sweet little girl.  

We dropped her off at around 9am and got to meet her 2 teachers and check our her classroom.  She was very bright eyed and very interested in checking out the place.  She has her own little cubby for storing her things and we think she has the best pack 'n' play for sleeping...a dim lit corner of the sleeping area away from the door.  After about 1/2 hour she started to get tired and fuss so I swaddled her, rocked her a little bit and then handed her off to one of her teachers, I gave her a kiss and off we went drying tears from my eyes.  It will get easier...especially since Chris will be the one doing the drop offs!!  

We picked her up at around 5pm at which time she was crying, but that's okay, we missed that little cry all day. I was concerned she wouldn't eat well because of her reflux issues but she did GREAT and consumed more than she usually eats at home all day with me.  She didn't nap as much as I would have liked but I am sure naps will get longer once she is used to her new environment.  

This is what Lina's teachers had to say about her first day:  

"Evelina had a wonderful 1st day of school!  She was so happy and alert paying close attention to what was going on all around her.  She enjoyed reaching for the dangle toys on the bouncy seat and the calming vibrations!"

Overall, we think day 1 was a success.  She won't go back until Tuesday...my first day back at work...ugghh....

Mesmerized

The other day when Lina was enjoying some play gym fun time, Violet became mesmerized by the music and movement of the toys.  I am just waiting for the day that she actually goes for one. I still don't think she understands who this little person is and what she is doing in our house.  One thing she does know?  She LOVES licking the little human's head and sniffing her feet!! 

In the Zone

Lina in the zone

Can't Stand It!!

Sometimes I can't stand looking at my daughter.....she is so freakin' cute I could just eat her up and squeeze her cheeks constantly!! 

Swaddle Transition

This week I have attempted to nap Evelina without being completely swaddled.  Up until now, she has been swaddled during all naps and night time sleep.  She loves it and I think she has begun to associate swaddling with sleeping.  But, she will eventually not be able to be swaddled and it will be good for her motor development to be free of her straight jacket.  So we are taking baby steps by starting with one arm out.  So far, she hasn't taken as long of naps with the one arm out but we will keep trying. 

Maternity Leave

This has officially been the best Summer of my life!!  I got to have my favorite season off from work and got to spend everyday with my favorite new person, Evelina Bambina.  Before Lina's birth I thought that I would be bored and lonely during my maternity leave but I have been anything but.  Weeks have been filled with visits from friends, attending mommy and me groups, running lots of errands, going on walks, getting things done around the house, taking the occasional nap...all in addition to feeding, changing, playing and getting to know the newest addition to the Ciano family.  

I knew the day would come for which I would need to go back to work but I didn't think it would come so quickly.  I have 3 more weeks of freedom to spend with our dear daughter and I wish I could stop time for a little bit since I know I won't ever get it back.  

Of course, being a stay-at-home-mom would make me nutty so a part of me is looking forward to going back to work but if I could just be there 3 days a week that would be perfect.   Luckily, MedVentive is being supportive and allowing me to work a 4 day work week so hopefully it works out.  It will be an adjustment but this whole new world of parenthood is and so far we seem to be adapting pretty well.  

In the meantime, I just have to take it day by day and enjoy every second without tearing up each night when I lay her down to sleep. 

Cute Butt

I just couldn't resist putting Lina in these cute pair of bloomers.  Tummy time wasn't very successful but at least she got to practice some future crawling moves. 

Tough Life

Play gym fun time can be exhausting

Filling Out

Evelina is definitely filling out!! The first photo was taken when she was a little shy of 4 weeks old and the second photograph was taken at 10 weeks.  

Continuous Shooting

The continuous shooting setting couldn't have captured Evelina any better!! 

I'm hungry mom but still smiling

Play Gym Fun Time

Ouch!

Miss Evelina made it through her 2 month appointment with flying colors. As of Thursday, she was 9lbs 6.5oz and 22.5” long.   She is still teetering between newborn (those she isn’t too long for) and 0-3 month clothes and we hope she will be able to get some use out of all of the summer 0-3 outfits before the fall temperatures roll in.   Summers always go by fast but this one has seriously zoomed by!!  We have also been experiencing an abundance of blow outs lately which isn’t very pleasant.  Newborn diapers are just too tight and size 1s are a little loose and can’t hold in her business.  It is a pain in the arse to say the least.  Maybe the potential transition to cloth diapers will happen sooner rather than later. 

Lina was a trooper during her 2 month vaccines.  One minute she was smiling while gazing at the Stegosaurus poster in the exam room and the next she was screaming bloody murder.  The day was then filled with lots of snoozing and snacking.  Our fear was that she would do the same during the night but instead she had a great sleep from 10-4 and 5-8, I could get use to that!! 

Oooooo Aaahhh

Over the last week or so Evelina has become increasingly interested in things other than gazing in the eyes of whoever is holding her. She loves looking at herself in the mirror and analyzing the black and white flash cards and book we got to keep her entertained. When feeding her I even find that she loves looking at the black and white photos we have of Violet on the wall in the living room. Our little girl is growing up already!!

Newborn Photo Slideshow

How will we ever choose from all of the stunning photos of our sweet little girl? I just look at these and get teary knowing that she is all ours. Such a beautiful gift. To view the slide show go to the Heidi Hope website, click on "Clients" (from the menu bar) and enter the password - evelina0610.

Also, if you haven't already, go to the preview blog post and leave a comment so we can qualify for a free 8x10!!