A Busy Past Two Weeks: Daniel Now 10 Weeks Old!

We've had an eventful past couple of weeks. The same night my mother and step-father returned to Portugal (and after a very teary good-bye - we miss you so much!) Peter and Jennifer arrived from France and spent 8 memorable days with us! We had so much fun with them, visited several places, talked loads; it was great. It was the most time we have ever spent together as a couple and it was very special and we just love Jennifer - well chosen Peter :-)!! Thank you for coming all this way to get to know your nephew! Here are some photos of the airport goodbye with "vozinha teteti e vozinho fofinho" and our time with P & J.

Saying good-bye to Daniel at the airport...We miss you!

Celebrating Peter and Jennifer's trip to the U.S.!

Enjoying Maryland crab cakes!

Daniel loved his uncle P!

Proud auntie!

Happy couple: Daniel can't wait for cousins!

We also finally took Daniel to Jonny's lab and about 15 plus of his colleagues came to see him! Daniel slept most of the time so it wasn't overwhelming for him. He also wore a very cute jean dungaree that day courtesy of our neighbor Tacumi:

With some of Jonny's colleagues:

Mother's day this past Sunday was very special. We spent most of the day with the Staggers, after attending Mikey's baby dedication at their church. We remembered that day all that God has done in our lives this past year, since mother's day last year. I wrote a blog about last year's mother's day and it was very difficult and I wasn't even pregnant yet. But here we are, one year later, much stronger and blessed with another baby boy, Daniel Peter! Thank you Lord!

First mother's day with Daniel:

With my dear friend Kristen

Daniel is truly blossoming now and we're having so much fun with his cooing and smiling - he's just adorable! Also, he slept 8 hours for the first time last night, from 8 PM to 4 AM - and then another 2 hours after feeding!! We kept waking up every couple of hours wondering, "is he still asleep?" Amazing, our little boy is growing up and we are feeling so much more rested! What a difference it makes!

Daniel cooing away!

Tomorrow though is going to be a difficult day for us since Daniel will be getting his 2 months shots! Oh, I hope they don't hurt too much and that he doesn't have a bad reaction to it... Being a parent brings many concerns, even when it's for his own good...you were right maezinha!

Some notes for us to remember about his development:

- He started cooing and smiling a lot at 9-10 weeks. He loves it when we talk back to him and coos even more! I have a feeling he's going to be quite a talker. Has he taken after his mother? :-) Still too soon to tell!

- Bedtime is now at 8 PM since Daniel was starting to have his deep night sleep much earlier and this new routine has been great - bath time is about 7 PM. We get a couple of hours together before going to bed (and get to watch American Idol!) or we have the option of going to bed when he does - which is most nights!

- Napping right now is a challenge. He sleeps for about 30 minutes and then cannot sleep again for another 30 minutes or so. We have to hold him until he sleeps again or else he is too tired and will be fussy. He naps generally better in the car or in the stroller since the motion lulls him back to sleep after he wakes up. But he needs to learn to nap well in his crib! Any advice from anyone? Please let us know!

- He still can only stay awake for about an hour at a time but can stay awake the longest mostly in the afternoons (about 1 hour and a half), before his last nap (total of 4 naps per day, before bedtime). Tummy time works best now in the afternoon and helps him use up his energy!

Eight Weeks Today!

Daniel Peter is eight weeks old today! He has grown so much and is getting heavy! I think he is about 11 pounds (Jonny likes to remind me that he now weighs the same as our cat!) and you can now see the extra fat on his thighs, arms, tummy and face - very cute! He is also so much more alert, opens his eyes nice and wide, likes to flail his arms about, is smiling at times (though not frequent yet and it's a big deal when he does) and definitely gets excited and happy.

Jonny officially started Daniel's football training today - or "soccer" as our American friends would say. I'm praying that Daniel will love football as much as his father does but I've already warned Jonny that this may not happen so we'll just have to be prepared and see what sport he will like! Here are some pictures of Daniel kicking the soccer ball for the first time:

We had a nice weekend; the last before my mother and step-father leave on Friday :-( and Peter and Jennifer arrive from Paris :-). We visited the National Arboretum in DC on Saturday and it was a hot summer day and Daniel got to wear short sleeves for the first time! We loved the arboretum, it is really beautiful and we never realized it was so close to us and free, so we expect to make it a frequent place to visit from now on as a family. On Sunday, we had brunch at my work colleague's house so Daniel has been getting around!

All in all we are doing well and enjoying little Daniel so much. The hardest part of everything still continues to be the sleep deprivation. Right now bedtime is between 9:00 and 10:00 PM (which is ours too, we are exhausted by the end of the day!) and he will generally sleep about 4 hours, then another 2 and another 2. For a few nights he slept for almost 5 hours the first stretch but that's still not common. We've read that babies between 8 and 12 weeks start to sleep 6 to 8 hours straight so we are hoping that will begin soon. Daytime napping has been quite inconsistent - one day some of his naps will be almost 2 hours long and then the next he will wake up after only 30 minutes. I'm interested to see how things will settle in the next few weeks...

One of the most special moments of the day is bath time, usually between 8:00 and 9:00 PM, which he absolutely loves! You can see his excitement and anticipation in his eyes each evening, as we are getting him ready. So far it has worked best for him to bath with us (we take turns) and we love it too!

Here are some photos from the last few days:

Getting ready for bath time: look at Daniel's excitement!

Visiting the National Arboretum in DC - Daniel wearing short sleeves for the first time!

Visiting tia Lucia:

Our Fifteenth Anniversary

Today is our fifteenth "together" anniversary. On April 25th, 1993, at about 8:50 PM next to the bus transport building at the United World College campus in Singapore, Jonny asked me: "Ana, will you please go out with me?" And of course I said "yes", never knowing that it was a yes that would last forever! It's amazing to think that we now have been together for half of our lives and we praise God for bringing us together at such a young age and for keeping our love and commitement so alive.

Here are a couple of pictures of what we looked like 15 years ago:

The last 15 years have been a great adventure and we have experienced so much joy as well as great pain together. The loss of our first son in particular was the most testing time (still is in many ways) but proved itself to be the most strengthing experience of our relationship. We had been warned to really take care of our marriage during our tragic loss since the stats show that 80% of couples who lose a child end up divorcing - understandbly, it's just too much for couples to bear, too many memories... But thank God, the opposite occurred for us and today, we are closer than ever.

Today is a day for us to stop, reflect and pray: "Lord, thank you for blessing us with each other and our marriage. We can see your hand in our lives throughout the past 15 years and we are so grateful that you brought and have kept us together. Please continue to bless, protect and strengthen our marriage. And please guide us day by day in the parenting of Daniel and any future children. In your name, Lord Jesus, we pray. Amen."

We Made It Through His First Cold!

It still breaks my heart to think that Daniel got his first cold at only 6 weeks. But yes, despite us trying our best to prevent it from happening, he got the same cold that all of us at home had. Poor little Daniel, not being able to blow his nose caused him and us a lot of pain. After a very difficult night last Wednesday in which Daniel woke up every hour, we took him to the Pediatrician who confirmed he had a cold but that he was well - his lungs and ears were clear. We were recommended to put saline drops in his nose before each feeding, put him to sleep upright in his car seat and use a humidifier. All of these measures helped tremendously and by Friday, Daniel was already much better. He still seems a little congested at times but he is pretty much over the cold and slept four hours in a row last night again - thank God!

We are still waiting for those smiles and keep asking Daniel: "When will the magic moment be?" He has been kind of half-smiling so it should be any day soon!

Better go now, he is waking up!

Some Recent Photos - 6 Weeks Old!

I'm such a cutie - Yay!

Giving my first speech - April 20th!

Being held by my "Vozinha Teteti" (Grandmother)


Proud father!

Enjoying the outdoors - first a cozy cuddle with my mother and then giving another speech from my father's lap:

It's Not About Me Anymore

I always theoretically knew that having a child would help me become less selfish and I was actually looking forward to this consequence of being a parent. Daniel is only going to be 6 weeks old tomorrow and yes, I'm already experiencing intensive training in becoming more selfless. Basically, it's not about me anymore. It's not about my schedule, what I want to do, what my desires are, when I want to sleep, etc. It's now all about little Daniel, his needs and his schedule. But despite the unpredictability of each day and not doing what I necessarily want to do, it's all good, very good, and I'm learning to welcome this reality more and more. Sometimes as I'm with Daniel and start to feel a little frustrated because I haven't been able to respond to a friend's e-mail or make an important phone call, I just say to myself "Ana, it's not about you anymore, it's now about Daniel." And these reminders help me and they are starting to sink in and are occurring less and less. Yes, the training is already having an impact! It will be interesting to see how I will have changed in a year from now in the selfishness department!

This past week has been special despite the challenges of short naps and fussy periods. He is definitely much more alert when awake and has started smiling with his eyes - the real smiles should be happening anytime soon! I can't wait for him to really smile because it will feel like we are doing something right! It will be a wonderful reward to have him interact with us more. Each day we notice him doing something different. In the last couple of days he has started to hold his head up for much longer, rub his eyes with his hands, follow us across the room with his eyes and head, and has even turned on his side on his own a few times. It's so special seeing him develop and grow day by day!

It's already Sunday night and Jonny will be going back to work tomorrow again and this makes me feel a little sad... It's so nice having him around at the weekends, I cherish our time together now more than ever! But I'm so thankful that my mother and step-father are still here with us, it's been such a huge blessing. My mother has pretty much taken over all of the housework since Daniel was born and I'll never forget all that she has been doing for us. We haven't slept in ironed bed sheets since the last time she was here - thanks maezinha! :-) We are also excited because in May, other family members will be coming to visit: Jonny's brother and sister-in-law, then Jonny's dad, followed by my sister, her fiance and my father. Jonny's mother will then be coming for two months at the end of June to help me transition back to part-time work.

So I better get going, Daniel has been gracious enough to have a longer nap than expected and let me finish this! I better make use of the remaining time to get some other of "my own" things done, because soon, when he's awake, it will be all about him again! :-)

Yes, Daniel, Your Father Is A Scientist!

I thought I was excited about Daniel's increasing weight, but soon found out that his Papa is much more! After weighing him last night and finding that he is now 9 pounds 5 ounces (4.22 kilos), Jonny decided to plot his weight and even project his future growth - and compared it to Buffy's weight (our cat)! Here are the graphs that Jonny is sure to be updating week by week!

It is amazing to me that seeing his weight increase each week is such a rewarding feeling! It's just wonderful to know that all the nursing is working - he's already about 2 pounds heavier than when he was born!

Five Weeks Old Today!

Our precious son is exactly 5 weeks old today! We are going to weigh him later tonight at bath time and I'm so curious if he is now over 9 pounds. He definitely looks bigger and has chubbier cheeks - very cute! He is so much more alert when awake now and starting to show excitement to our voices and other stimulation. At times it feels like he is growing up so fast already - we keep reminding ourselves that we must keep enjoying each day to the fullest!

Things are getting so much easier and better and for the last few days we have developed a routine and therefore some predictability which has been wonderful. He is napping consistently during the day for about 2 hours after being awake for about an hour so I'm finally able to get other things done and relax more. And at night, he is sleeping almost 4 hours at a go so it's much better too. I'm also feeling more confident about taking care of him as I'm understanding his little sounds and his needs much more.

Today we actually spent several hours in DC and it went great. We went to the Brazilian Embassy for my mother to get a new passport and he slept most of the time, I then fed him in the car and then he slept all the way back home too. We even had lunch at a restaurant and after feeding him and changing his diaper in the bathroom, he slept soundly again whilst we ate. What a big breakthrough it has been to be able to go out again and know how to juggle Daniel's routine with our plans. I remember that just a couple of weeks ago I was worried I would never be able to go out again! But one of my friend's advice is really proving to be true: "every week makes a huge difference, just remind yourself of that when things are difficult."

So all is well and very special here in our household. Jonny is a doting father and calls my cell phone every couple of hours when he is away "just to check up on how the wife and babes are doing."

Will be uploading some more photos soon!

A Record Of Daniel Peter's First Milestones

Daniel will be exactly 4 weeks tomorrow and we have already experienced some important milestones that I would like to keep a record of:

Weight:
Birth: 7 pounds 6 ounces/3.34 kilograms
Leaving hospital - 2 days old: 6 pounds 15 ounces/3.15 kilograms
4 days old - first appointment with the Pediatrician: 6 pounds 15 ounces/3.15 kilograms
14 days old - second appointment with the Pediatrician: 7 pounds 6 ounces/3.34 kilograms (back to birth weight as expected)
26 days old - weighed at home with Linnan's scale: 8 pounds 8 ounces/3.86 kilograms (wow, the breastfeeding is working, thank God!)

Umbilical cord:
Fell off: 13 days old

First smile:
Day 23 as Jonny was holding him in the morning - still waiting for more smiles, should start to get more frequent in the next couple of weeks, can't wait!

Bathing:
First sponge bath at home: 5 days old
First full bath: 24 days old
First bath in tub with me - so special: 27 days old

First bottle for one night feeding:
15 days old - thank God he accepted the bottle well!

First outing:
Walk around the neighbourhood: 23 days old

Tummy time in the morning:
First time on tummy for about 10 minutes - he did not complain: 24 days old
First time that lifted head and turned face from one side to another: 26 days old

Daniel Peter Is Here!

Wow, this is the first time in almost 4 weeks that I have been able to sit down and start writing this blog. I know that I may not be able to finish it in one sitting but at least I've started and it feels great to finally do something different - outside of feeding, changing diapers and trying to get much needed sleep whilst the baby sleeps. I just managed to get him to sleep so hopefully he will have a nice long nap...

Our sweet little boy, Daniel Peter, arrived at 5:35 pm on Monday, March 3rd. He weighed 7 pounds and 6 ounces and was 20 inches long. After all the moving around inside of me, I was relieved to discover that he was head-down when I went into labor - amazing, he had been breech only 2 days before I went into labor and I was already 39 weeks. My contractions started regularly in the early hours of March 2nd, I was officially admitted into the hospital at 3:30 pm that same day but he was only born about 26 hours later. Even though this was my second delivery, my cervix was slow to dilate but thank God, once I got passed 6 cm it went very quickly and he came out after pushing through only about 4 contractions.

The moment of hearing him cry, the relief of knowing that he was indeed healthy and well was truly amazing...I don't have the words to describe the feelings of joy and relief. Child birth is indeed a miraculous event, I still can't believe he came from inside of me! We had the best care from our midwife Kathleen and I will in particular never forget how she helped me with getting him to start breastfeeding soon after birth. Without her help, I think it would be much harder. Nursing is harder than I thought it would be - even though I already "theoretically" knew that from all my public health work. Thank God it is going well though, I have lots of milk and I'm getting used to it - but it is indeed very demanding and I can now understand why women choose not to nurse.

Daniel Peter is so cute and I'm growing to love him more and more each day. It is so special to look at him and know that he is our child and no one elses. It is an amazing feeling, though definitely overwhelming at times since it's hard work and exhausting! The first two weeks were the hardest but it's getting a little easier each day as I get used to the sleep deprivation and he has started to sleep for about 3 hours at a time at night - as opposed to 1 and a half hours! Jonny has also been giving him a bottle once a night with my expressed milk for the last week so that has given me a chance to sleep a bit more which has really helped. I have also recently started to go outside of the house - spring is here and I've been able to go for short walks around our neighborhood and yesterday even managed to go to the hairdressers with him - with my mother's invaluable help.

Jonny is an amazing father. I always thought he would be, but seeing him with Daniel is so special. So far, he has been the only one to bath him, since he just has this special way of doing so with much care and tenderness. He takes such good care of him and is a perfectionist when changing his diaper - my mother was happy to have him around to teach us to take care of his "bits" since he is the only one around who understands them! It's still a common occurrence to be peed on but I think we are getting better at predicting and containing the "mess."

Wow, he is still asleep... it's been 55 minutes and I've been able to write this peacefully. I hope to upload photos soon, the next time I get a chance!