Sunday Morning

I'm writing this from the peace and quiet of our apartment at 9:30 on a Sunday morning. I always feel like there is so much I want to write about this whole experience and how our interactions and Bianca's reactions to us change and grow every day, but as any parent knows the free time to let your mind really sink in and construct a half-decent paragraph is hard to come by.

So, in no particular order:

Bianca's 4 month check-up went perfect. She was 62cm long, 41cm head circumference and weighed in a healthy 6.55 kg (14.4lbs). There were many other children and babies in line to see Dr. Carames and she was running about 1hr late. No matter, Bianca and I, then Ewa and Bianca, pranced around the waiting area; showing her off. She received two shots and only cried for a short time after, 10-20 seconds max.

We thought that the Fisher Price Aquarium Bouncer might last two kids. That was the plan, anyway. But Bianca has found a new game, one that my mother the therapist thought was quite stimulating. She brings her feet up and kicks the 'dashboard' of the bouncer, loosening the connection between the 'dashboard' and the battery pack, so the spinning starfish, kissing fishies and their corresponding bubbles and music start and stop with each kick. Mom's glad she's learning Cause and Effect; and frankly, it amuses the hell out of me. Also, when the batteries start to die, we refer to the fishies as 'drunk fishies', as the song and bubbles slow down. Alcohol education can never start too early.

I'll upload some YouTube clips of Bianca splashing and trying to sit. She's good at sitting as long as she leans forward. If she goes slightly to the side she can correct herself, but once she leans backward its all over. She kicks like mad in the tub, splashing everything, and I think she'll be great at her baby 'schwimmen' when we go in the spring. She's enjoying her belly time more, but requires constant stimulation; a mirror, a rattle, a laughing parent, etc. We prompt the belly time with sitting, then when she spills over onto her tummy, she tucks her knees in and pulls her arms free; sometimes grunting with effort.

We've got her into a fairly good routine. She goes to bed at 8:30, after her bath and a quick nurse. Ewa nurses her again, usually in her sleep, at 11 and then she's down until 4 or 5. Sometimes I change her just before I leave for work around 7:15am, but overall she's sleeping very well.

Her head was slightly misshaped b/c she loves to suck on her right thumb and index finger to go to sleep; and then leaves her head on that side. We'd taken to straightening her head after she fell asleep because trying to force her to stay centered or to the left with a rolled up towel just infuriated her. Now, she self corrects in her sleep and since she propels herself to the right side of the crib, the bumper acts as the rolled-up-towel and she forces herself to face left. Thus, we have avoided her having to wear a helmet.

Anything she gets her hands on is going in her mouth and we swear she's interested in what we're eating. When she's in her bouncer during dinner she whines until we put her in our laps. Then she sits, very content, surveying the table and the food and us. If we're not careful she's liable to get a hand full of spaghetti sauce or cheese or zucchini and try to put it in her mouth. No success yet, but she's getting faster. It's like guarding your food from a dachshund, she's surprisingly quick and coordinated when she wants to be.

Ewa's reading to her in Polish, Italian and Spanish - so she's learning lots of different names for animals - and while we agree on most sounds, the rooster tends to be language specific - Cock-a-doodle-do is Ki-kiree-ki in Italian and Coo-coo-rikoo in Polish.

All for now.