Autumn Girl

Talia - 19 Weeks

What an exciting, and social week Miss Talia Mae had! It started off with some great fun with her friend Maddie last Saturday night. Mommy and Daddy celebrated their 5th wedding anniversay with a date-night, while Talia spent some time with Amy, Steve, and little Madelyn. The two girls had a blast, chatting away and staying up way past their bedtime.

Then on Tuesday, Talia spent time with lots of friends at her monthly playdate. To honor this occasion, she chose to wear a very fitting outfit:

Perhaps the most exciting part of the week for Talia though was when she realized that SHE HAS FEET! She almost never lies with her back fully on the ground now - she's always pulling her feet to her chest and exploring her piggies! Just wait until she realizes how tasty they are too:)

Talia is getting stronger every day. She's a great advertisement for drinking milk - it certainly "does her body good". She now lifts her head very well, can roll from her tummy to back (if she decides she's in the mood), can roll from her back all the way to her tummy (except her one arm always ends up pinned underneath her), and is an expert balancer when sitting or standing.

Our baby is growing up!

Alysia

October Playdate - The Great Pumpkin

Last evening, Talia met up with her friends for the second monthly playdate at the Santhanys. Since it's almost Halloween, the kiddos showed their festivity by checking out the inside of a big pumpkin (literally)! Talia seemed to really enjoy it. She didn't fuss at all and actually stood up all by herself against the back of the pumpkin for a few pictures. How cute!

Of course, we had some fun herding the gang together again for a group photo. So many kiddos - and four of them were absent!

Alysia

Talia - 18 Weeks

This was Talia's first week spending full days with Mary. Mommy and Daddy are learning to adjust to a brand new schedule, one which requires more organization than imagined. It would appear to some that we are packing for a vacation every evening as we prepare for the next day of work. Thank goodness we have some help with reminders:)

Talia is growing and learning so much every week. It's truly amazing to watch. Here are some examples.......

Although she's been helping hold her bottle for weeks,

she will now hold it entirely by herself sometimes!

We've started to let her use the next phase of her Exersaucer.

She really enjoys checking out all of the toys, but she's still a bit

too short to thoroughly enjoy it. Mommy knows what it's like to be

a bit too short for some things - so it's nothing a few pillows and books

can't fix!

Alysia

The Most Precious Sound Ever

Talia makes the sweetest, most indescribable sound when you talk to her. We've been waiting to capture it on video for everyone to see. Enjoy.

Alysia

Flashin' Her Baby Blues

Talia's eyes are still blue....... they say whatever color they

are at 6 months is permanent. We shall see!

Alysia

A Very Special Week

Life is emotional right now, and not just because I started back to work last week. This week last year we embarked on our second major baby attempt - and Talia entered our lives.....

10/19/08: I have rested for the past 36 hours in hopes that the one embryo that was transferred Friday has found a nice new home. Only one of the five frozen embryos survived (or was of good quality). Apparently, one other one survived but it split. The doctor said that the one he transferred was "perfect" and should get me pregnant.... I do think there are several benefits of this time over last in terms of success: 1) My body is not recovering from a retrieval. 28 follicles were removed last time and the transfer was just 5 days later. There's a good chance that my recovery (loss of blood, swelling, etc) made it less likely for success. 2) The embryo this time has been frozen, thawed, and still grew to be of "perfect" quality. In my mind, survival of the fittest applies here! 3) My blood results indicate that hormone levels are perfect! I've been on estrogen pills and patches for two weeks to build my uterine lining. Then, last Sunday, we started nightly progesterone injections to prepare the lining to be receptive. Blood results the day of transfer were perfect. Last time, my body was still on a bit of a roller coaster ride from developing all of those eggs. After transfer, my estrogen level dipped way down and did not fully recover. This time, there should be no issue with maintaining levels with similar does of medication..... So, the logical engineer in me has thought out why I should be optimistic. Please don't prove me wrong little one!

Alysia

Talia - 4 Months

Stats: 12 lbs 10 oz, 24.5" long

TALIA FUN FACTS
Favorite Pasttimes: Talking, Eating, Sleeping
Favorite Toys: Rattles, Fuzzy Duck, Exersaucer Arch
Favorite Thing to do with Mommy: Talk

Favorite Thing to do with Daddy: Tubby Time
Favorite Noises to Make: Squealing!; "Coo-giggles"
New-found "likes": Squealing, Bouncing on Knees, High-Chair, Standing, shaking rattles

Appearance (Hair): Thinning (losing baby hair) and lightening to auburn / blonde / brown

Appearance (Eyes): Still hanging onto a blue color

Personality: Very happy baby, smiles continuously and nearly always coos when Mommy or Daddy smile at her. Chats and squeals non-stop (quite the social butterfly). Knows what she wants and is always clear about telling you. Turns into T-Rex when tired!

Talia's "Schedule": Definitely disturbed since starting Daycare!

Typically in bed by 8:30PM - recently up once or twice to eat (1AM, 3AM), awake for the day between 4-6AM. Talia spends the day with Mary from about 7:30AM - 5:15PM, taking many short naps throughout the day. The evening with Mommy and Daddy is filled with playtime, talking, tubby time, and snuggling before bedtime.

Froggy chair shots (2 wks , 2 months, 4 months below):

Alysia

4-Month Checkup

Talia had her 4-month checkup today with the pediatrician.

Here are her stats:

Weight: 12 lbs 10 oz (38th percentile)

Height: 24.5 inches (50th percentile)

Head Circumference: 16.25 inches (60th percentile)

She received her second round of immunizations, and it was just as sad as the first time. She was such a brave little girl, only whimpering during the oral vaccination. But, as soon as the first needle touched her, she wailed. Mommy was so happy to pick her up when it was finished - only to quickly realize the poor baby had pooped herself during the shots. The paper on the table was stained, her outfit was soiled, and she left the office wearing the only thing in the diaper bag -- a pumpkin Halloween costume........

Aside from the shots, Talia was the happiest girl during the check up. She smiled and chatted away with Dr. Juarbe the entire time and demonstrated her motor skills by trying several times to roll off of the table. The doctor was amazed by her vocal talents and says "she's ahead of the game" and that "we'd better watch out - she's going to be an active one". Haha - nothing like her parents:)

Alysia

A Trip to the Pumpkin Patch

This afternoon, we visited Grandma's Pumpkin Patch with some friends and their kiddos. It was the perfect autumn day with few clouds in the sky. Great for capturing some precious moments with Talia!

As we were leaving, we noticed that the babies had all been handed off to the Daddys. Makes for a good snapshot:)

Alysia

Talia - 17 Weeks

17 Weeks old already, and such a happy baby!

It is becoming more and more difficult to obtain any pictures of Talia where she isn't showing off her tummy.... she loves to pull up her shirt. Uh-oh, good thing we're not still living near New Orleans:)

As long as she's not tired - Talia enjoys assisted standing and sitting so much! She seems to enjoy her new-found ability to put weight on her legs as it allows her to see the room so much better. Look out though, cause she likes to push off with her legs any chance she gets - this makes holding her a little more challenging every week!

Talia's 4-month checkup is this week. We're looking forward to seeing how big she is, but not the immunizations that come along with it.....

Alysia

Our Little Seal

Alysia

Miss Mary

Talia started visiting Miss Mary on Monday morning, and has been going 1/2 days all week since Mommy returned to work.

Mary thinks Talia is just adorable and the most smiley baby. And, thankfully, Talia has made drop-off very easy by chatting with me all the way there in the car and smiling once we arrive.

Unfortunately, (but expected), the shift to work-life has affected Talia's sleeping and eating patterns a bit and we hope we can get her adjusted quickly. She nearly immediately made the shift to going to bed earlier at night once we started getting her up early. But, her napping needs a little work and she decided to be an overachiever this morning, rising off and on between 2AM-4AM, eventually wide awake at 4:30AM. We don't need to get up that early sweetheart!

Alysia

Exploring the Vocal Range

Talia has a new favorite sound - SQUEALING!!!!!!!!!!

See two videos below for some evidence!

Alysia

The NFL Experience

Quick - think of a situation that would be very unmanageable if you have an infant with you. Did you guess an NFL game? If you did, you'd be right!

Talia accompanied us to the Detroit Lions - Pittsburgh Steelers game on Sunday, along with Matt, Lisa, and Caden and a bunch of their friends from Pittsburgh. The game day experience included a couple hours of tailgating in the "East Market" area of downtown Detroit, followed by the game itself. The day was exhausting but full of many moments that will be great memories. Talia was particularly high maintenance while we tailgated, since she was full of energy and hunger after sleeping for the entire ride down to Detroit. Fortunately, the weather held out for our time spent outside - the temperature was around 50 degrees although it was also a little windier than I would have liked. Check out below a picture of Alysia and Tally chilling out before the game in their Steelers garb.

We quickly cleaned up the tailgating gear and marched down to Ford Field. The actual stadium was very nice - it was designed with a modern industrial feel to it, and the seats had a good view of the field. The good news was that Ford Field is an indoor stadium, which means that it was comfortable inside. The bad neews was that Ford Field is an indoor stadium, which means that noise is easily amplified! This was reinforced by our seats being in the next to last row in the upper section, which means that the crowd around us was particularly vocal and excited. So the 1st quarter turned out to be an adjustment period for Talia to get accustomed to the loud outbursts. Below are two different faces of Talia: Her reaction to one of the first big plays in the game... then a calmer Talia later in the game.All in all, it was a successful NFL experience. Of course, a 28-20 Steelers win and an exciting 4th quarter helped as well! At the same time, I'll also appreciate watching the game from our living room next week. Here we go Steelers!

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On a final note, here's an adorable picture of Talia dressed in her warm clothing for a walk that we went on during Saturday afternoon.

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Until next time...

- Mike

Talia - 16 Weeks

Talia is 16 weeks old already and is growing up so darn fast!

She now really prefers to be in a seated or standing position, but will play peacefully on her back for quite awhile before starting to yell for attention. She loves to sit with assistance against Mommy or Daddy, but also enjoys sitting on the couch all by herself, grasping a toy or simply staring around the room. She sometimes gets too excited and leans forward or to the side and will topple over - but she loves it! She'll simply lay face forward into the couch with a smile and sometimes "gurgle" laugh about it.

Her eye-hand coordination is really improving. She reaches for an object and grasps it on the first try now. Her favorite things to grab are things that dangle (fabric from her mirror, Mommy's hair), but she also LOVES to grab ahold of small furry or silky toys and show them who's boss (eat them).

Crying has become a signal that Talia is either extremely exhausted or extremely hungry, and it only happens once or twice during the day. She's found all sorts of new ways of communicating that don't produce tears. When she's tired, she rubs her eyes and buries her head into your shoulder or chest. When she's bored, she "yells" for you, with really cute whining sounds that get progressively louder:)

We've recently been experimenting with helping Talia fall asleep on her own. We've introduced a cuddly blankie that she seems to love grasping as she gets tired. On occasion, Daddy has laid her down for the night in her crib awake, turning on her mobile for her to listen to and watch spin. This has worked once........

We've reached the week Mommy has been dreading for quite some time now. This week will mark Talia's first introduction to daycare. She'll start seeing Miss Mary for half-days on Monday, so I'm sure we'll have some stories to tell soon!

Alysia

Her "High"ness

Two answers to the questions on everyone's mind:
Yes! Talia is sitting in her very own high chair.

No! Talia is not eating solid foods yet.

Daddy put together Talia's high chair today. Mommy and Daddy have consumed many meals from the living room couch and floor while Talia plays. We figured since she enjoys sitting so much now, she might as well start joining us at the big table! Today's high chair session lasted about ~10 minutes before whining began. I think we can shovel food that fast, don't you?

Alysia