2 months old

At 2 months old, Vivi's got her own little personality. She loves Scout (toy dog), her butterfly mobile, staring at picture frames or any wall with contrast, bath time, walks in her stroller, her play mat (especially the whale), sticking out her tongue, lying in the sunshine, and music. Things she doesn't like - getting her diaper changed, getting put into her car seat, getting dressed, hats, and bedtime.

8 weeks old

Vivi is 8 weeks old.

 

 To celebrate her 8-week birthday, she got her first shots :(

Proud Daddy

This photo is a bit old (almost 2 months old now!) but I hadn't seen it until this weekend - my dad took it the morning after Vivi was born. We're all in San Diego this weekend for Lyle's bike show.

California Poppies

The California poppies are in full bloom. We went up to take some photos of Vivi in the poppies but she slept the entire time we were there. So we have the one picture of Vivi with her eyes partially open and some other pictures of just flowers.

The work of play

Vivi is beginning to play. Maybe she's been playing all along, but she is starting to do things that I recognize as play. She lays on her mat, stares intently at her dangling stuffed animals and then bats at the animals (usually the whale or the zebra). Her grunting makes me think this is hard work for her. When she hits one, she moves her arms and legs around excitedly and squeals (the happiest sound she knows how to make) so loudly that Lyle hears her in the garage with the door closed.

She started doing this yesterday (see video in yesterday's post) and could hit the animals only some of the time. But her efforts yesterday were clearly worthwhile. This morning, I put her down on her mat in a less than optimal position for hitting the whale (I thought maybe she'd like to hit something new - silly me). She was able to wriggle her way to a better angle and hit the whale with nearly every hit. She even made it spin around several times. She then moved on to batting at the plastic keys which don't move as much as the whale but make a different sound - a new game. Her happy squealing has also gotten considerably louder and more distinguished from her unhappy noises just since yesterday.

It's amazing to see how she learns every day.

Talk to the animals

Vivi is increasingly becoming interested in her toys. Here she is playing with and "talking to" (squealing at) her toys - she's especially fond of the whale and zebra. She's been doing this pretty much non-stop since she woke up at 5am this morning (3 hours ago).

A look inside Vivi's mouth

Vivi's pacifier allows a look inside her mouth as she sucks. Not the most flattering angle, but entertaining nevertheless. As a bonus you can hear her "squeaky door" imitation.

Six weeks old

Rolling, rolling, rolling ... from front to back

 

I took this picture of Vivi looking very determined, thinking she was getting set to lift herself up, but no, she rolled herself over onto her back. And here's the evidence...

I'm not sure whether she meant to or not - she seemed a bit surprised at ending up on her back, but I rolled her back on to her tummy and she immediately rolled over onto her back again. This is the third (and fourth) time that I know she's rolled over - but the first caught on camera.

6 hours of uninterrupted sleep!

Vivi had been sleeping in fairly reliable 3 hour increments at night, waking up at 9pm, 12pm, 3pm, and 6am, but the last two nights she slept for 6 hours straight (8pm-2am) followed by a three or four hour stretch. Credit is due to the "Miracle Blanket" we received as a gift from Laura and Joel. Vivi has been able to get out of any swaddle since we brought her home from the hospital so we stopped swaddling our little Houdini early on. But Miracle Blanket keeps her swaddled and keeps her from waking herself up (which she usually does by punching herself in the face).

Who's this big kid on my playmat?

Vivi (5 weeks) and Cole (5 months).

5 and a half weeks - smiles

 

 My little giraffe and her giraffe. Even though this photo (above) is in the collage below, I thought it was worth posting a larger one. Too bad I had the camera on the wrong setting and the focus is on the stuffed giraffe and not the vivi-giraffe so she's a little out of focus.

 

Vivi is 5 and a half weeks old now. She's starting to smile and show an interest in her toys. She's getting so strong - she can lift her head and body up on her forearms. She also spits up and screams a lot, but we don't photograph those activities.

Who's the doll?

Vivi and her twin

Vivi's Great Grandma

Vivi met her great-grandmother yesterday. All four generations are together in the photo below - Viviana, me, my father, and his mother.

1 month old

We had a 1 month birthday party for Vivi with all four grandparents

Visiting Grandparents in Arizona

We took Vivi to Arizona to meet her Papa and Granny (Lyle's parents). It was a long drive for such a little baby, but Vivi did great riding in her car seat and seemed to enjoy being cuddled by her grandparents. Vivi is smiles a lot these days. Most of the smiles are in her sleep, but her Papa got a big smile the first time he held her. We're thinking of Vivi's Papa in his long surgery today.

Three weeks old

Happy birthday Vivi!

Mardi Gras!

Vivi celebrating mardi gras

Today is Mardi Gras - Fat Tuesday. People around the world are feasting and partying. Vivi joined right in. She, who normally eats every 3-4 hours, woke up every hour and a half to eat last night, more than doubling the amount of time she usually spends eating (and I presume the amount of food she consumed) - a feast of milk.

At the hospital, the nurses warned us that this might happen right around the three-week-old mark. Her more frequent feeding signals my body to produce more milk in preparation for a growth spurt. And she's right on time - her three-week birthday is today. What they didn't tell us is how long it lasts. I'm pretty sure my body has gotten the hint and she can go back to feeding every 3-4 hours. 

Two and a half weeks old

My little inch worm!

Vivi is crawling! She made it all the way across her playmat. Of course I didn't think to video tape her until she was almost done and had worn herself out. I have my hand down on the mat behind her foot so that she has something to push against. But otherwise, she's done it all on her own.

Apparently this isn't all that unusual - and doesn't suggest that she'll be an early crawler. Newborns are born with a crawling reflex that disappears after the first 4 weeks of life. So she'll likely be crawling across her mat for another week and a half and then won't crawl again for several months.