Three Months

Señorita Clementina,


Today you are three months old.

You are also up and at 'em! with a vengeance.

That particular phrase, with a vengeance means in an extreme or intense manner. I'll say. The extremity of your behavior is due to the fact that you awoke at 4:30 am. This is absolutely not appreciated in the least by your father and me. By.The.Way. The intensity is, well, astounding. There is absolutely no question whatsoever that you are AWAKE.

I am fairly certain that I foreshadowed this early morning activity by gasp! preparing the coffee pot last night. I thought that I was just going to have an easier time of it at oh, say 7:00...but you'll show me to expect anything from someone who is still only zero.

Lookee - over there! Surely you are talking about someone other than me!

Good thing we cleared up the fact that I am Running on Fumes already.

To be fair, I will point out that the night before you slept from 10:40 pm until 6:20 am. That, I must say, was greatly appreciated by yours truly. When you did finally get up, you ate like you were expiring right there on the spot and then we went into the living room to do this:



You are so very happy in the morning. You smile at me, talk to me, and even pose for photos. I remember when the camera was a thing of intrigue. It wasn't even a whole month ago that the camera elicited looks from you like this:

What is that thing and what has it done with my mother?!?

In fact, that photograph is from the very beginning of August, almost exactly one month ago. How you have changed in that short month. As you will very soon discover, I am a photo-happy person. I take a lot of them and you shall be one of my favorite subjects. I am so very glad of that because otherwise I wouldn't even see the changes you go through in such a short amount of time. It surprises me when I look back through the photos that I have taken and realize how different you are already. You are definitely a growing girl!



You have become incredibly long this month. This makes things interesting when attempting to feed you in the rocking chair since you also love to kick your feet. If you are sleepy-eating at night, this is no big thing, but when you are awake, watch out! You'll push your feet on the arm of the chair and pop right off of me. Oh, how offended you are then. How dare I take away the food! When you are expiring!

The challenges of motherhood that no one bothers to mention...

Your length has also made soothing you somewhat challenging. Or it did there for a while. You remember, back when you still had eyes for your pacifier? Oh, how the great have fallen. Supporting your body and legs while holding your pacifier in required three arms. Neither of us are so blessed, and Cooper is not much help no matter how much he'd like to be. We had a few days of extreme malcontent due to your length and our lack of extremities.

Nowadays, that paci? It has been banished. It sits forlornly, forgotten, somewhere in our bedroom. Yup, somewhere. I used to know where that thing was at all times. I kept it with me, in fact. Now? Well, you much prefer to attempt this:



There are times when you manage to get that thumb in there just right and away you go. Other times, you are just playing around with it, chewing it, poking it with your tongue. Occasionally you just get a couple of fingers in there. Whenever that happens, you make a face like we fed you something yucky and spit them out.

Then there are the times when you get the thumb in the mouth and a finger in your nose at the same time.

Show-off.

It was a tad bit uncomfortable for you the first time since you were trying to shove your thumb as far into your mouth as possible...which resulted in your finger going up, up, up. Touching your brain must not have been on the agenda, because you pulled them both out and looked at me like I had done something to you.

Your Guga was here for two weeks at the beginning of the month. Oh, how you enjoyed that. You really began "talking" with her. She would hold you and speak to you about your day and you would just tell her all sorts of things. We have no idea what, exactly, but boy did you talk.

Last month I mentioned that you know your sounds come from your mouth and if I touch it you'll talk. Well, the connection you have made is even stronger this month since you are more likely to talk if you have something in your mouth. In go the hands, out come sounds. The sounds are increasing in variety, frequency, and sometimes volume. Your favorite is still "ooohhhh". It always makes you smile.



Your Aunt and Uncle, M&M are visiting this weekend. We are hoping that we will get to watch some Hokie football with them. One thing is or certain: you are ready to cheer.



I believe that you will love your Aunt's hair and voice because you love looking at long hair and she has a great singing voice - I am sure we can convince her to sing you something. Maybe you'll join in. I think that you will love looking at your Uncle because, unless things have changed, he has facial hair. Oohhhh, Ahhhh, facial hair. I can't wait to see your face when you meet them. It will probably look something like this:



This is the face you make whenever you are thinking. I have heard that you get it from me. You do it every time you encounter something or someone new. Your Guga and I took you out to my former workplace while she was here and this is how you chose to greet everyone. Then you fell asleep. As babies are wont to do.

The good news is that for all the times that you are oh so serious, there are also the times that you are happy. In fact, this month you have been learning to laugh. You have somewhat mastered the cough, and you are working on laughing. It all started with a game of patty-cake:



I know I mentioned that you are happy with sucking on your hands, but it is so much more than that. This month you discovered them. We hit your hands together for patty-cake and something clicked. You knew that those were your hands and holy smokes they were touching each other! When you "laugh" you lift your head back a bit, your eyes get big and you look up and away. Your mouth opens really wide and there's this pause while you process your happiness and excitement. Then, finally, out comes a cough-y but joyful sound.

Ever since that day, you've been using your hands to explore. Mostly you explore one hand with the other, even when eating, which I must say is interesting. You also, as I mentioned, explore your mouth. We can now place a toy or rattle in your hand and you'll hold onto it for a while. You know that when you move your hand, the object makes noise, and that makes you happy.

A few other things you've learned to do this month include holding yourself up and looking around during tummy-time. You've demonstrated your ability to flop yourself over onto your side when I place you on your belly. You are also fully capable of rolling onto your side from your back while sleeping, so I imagine rolling over is on your agenda in the near future.

In the last two days you've really discovered the mobile on your swing. It is an aquarium swing that has a globe that lights up with water and fish in it. Around the globe is the mobile with four fish that go 'round and 'round. Although you've shown interest in it before, yesterday and today you expressed delight. Almost laughing delight.

I love to watch you discover new things. You express excitement and joy when doing so. You go from slight frustration at an attempt to happiness with success and it is fabulous to watch. I enjoy it when you explore your voice. Your expressions are as varied as the sounds you make. One of my favorite is the one you make when you are getting a little sleepy. There is such a fine line between the sleepy stage and the I need sleep NOW stage, but while you are there, you are precious. It is just one of the many things I love about being your Mom.



Love,
Mom

Nicknames and Other Things

Once Upon a Time, Señor CC took a trip to Oslo, Norway.



As this was a business trip, Señora CC did not get to go.

Boooo. Hissss.

While there, he was invited to go on a boat trip in a fjord.

I love that word; it is fun to say.

It was the summer, so the fjord was full of water.

As opposed to ice, people. In the winter, they put markers out and drive across the fjords. On the ice. It is a much shorter trip than driving the curvy road that follows the fjord coastline. A much shorter trip on ice. Solid Ice.

No, I've never lived where it gets that cold, as I am sure you can tell. To me, this is a woah! and amazing! idea.

I don't get out much.

They didn't go too far from the city, but he was able to see a bit of the cliffs carved out by the glacier that formed the fjord:



In addition to being fed a very popular (in Norway at least) open-faced raw shrimp sandwich...with a strange mayonnaise on it...which really wasn't very popular, at least with my husband, he and a few others went swimming.

In the deep, cool waters of the fjord.



Apparently, they liked it:

Yes, I know. It was August, the height of summer. It was warm, at least for Norway. The top so many feet of water were warm. Below that, however...brrrrrr. Also: Helloooooo, sexy! Lemme see those muscles!

He went on the trip with all of these people:



Some of them took these photos. Thanks!

Aside from swimming, eating, and your usual frivolity, they saw this amazing boat:



The coast was lined with beautiful trees and many tiny boat houses.



Their trip lasted long enough that they were witnesses to a beautiful sunset:






Towards the end of the evening, this photo was taken:

A result of the camera attempting to function in too-little light...or a result of the day's activities?

We may never know.

Later that evening, Señor CC went out with a few of the guys. They had Oh-so-much-fun together. I am pretty sure shenanigans ensued. So much so that the following morning there may have been a little over-sleeping.

Perhaps.

At one point, one of them asked how Señor CC was doing that morning...as in how was it when he woke up...

And he, in all of his ability-not-to-speak glory declared "I was up like a rocket!"

A rocket?

Indeed.

I'll give you a minute.

Incidentally, those of you who knew Señor CC in his college days are well aware of his propensity to use the word rocket. Rocket-Sled, anyone?

Due to his fabulous choice of words, he is now known by some only as Rocket Man.

I find that nickname superbly appropriate, since he loves the word and we live in Houston. Houston, we have a problem. I mean, could it get any better than that?

As for me, these days I am doing my best, Running on Fumes.

And although this is in large part because of Rootin' Tootin' Cowgirl and Rocket Man, it is not those kind of fumes I am talking about people. Jeepers!

One thing is for sure:



I don't think any of us are going to be up like a rocket any time soon.

New Names for Señorita Clementina

The time has come.

We are no longer in lovely España.

I have decided that we need new blog names to reflect our current location and situation.



Granted, this one will always be Señorita Clementina to me because, as our Spanish landlords proudly declare: she was made in Spain. Hecho en España, for all of you Spanish speakers out there.

A recent visitor (Hi, Mom!) called her Little Miss Itty Bitty while she was here, and we like that name very much. It is easy to remember, it rolls off the tongue, and it is perfect for now, since she is currently Itty Bitty. With CAPS. Yes, her size shall change soon enough, but until then, I'm sure I'll occasionally refer to her as such. I'll use LMIB for short sometimes, so I hope you're paying attention!

Here is Little Miss Itty Bitty with She Who Named Her, Guga (pronounced like the Georgia Bulldogs mascot name, Uga, but with an extra G at the beginning. So...Guh-gah...NOT Goo-gah, Thank-You-Very-Much!), watching Olympic swimming and gymnastics:



Señor CC and I are going to be using a couple of humorous names, and LMIB needs one of those as well. Therefore, we shall combine her most frequent, innately driven activities with the fact that she was born in Texas.

She roots;

She toots.

Usually in that order, with a little feeding in between.

She was not born in Houston, so she is not a city girl.

Did I mention we're in Texas?

All of these facts combine for a fabulous new name:


Rootin' Tootin' Cowgirl

Two Months

Señorita Clementina,

Today you are two months old. I like to tell you how very old you are getting - eight weeks and five days, but you insist on reminding me that you are only zero.

It is serious business, being zero:



The past two days/nights have been slightly more regular than all of the preceding ones. You've taken a short light nap in the morning and a long hard nap in the afternoon. You then went to bed around nine thirty both nights. I suppose we shall see if this lasts or not.



You are mostly content all day long. You get a little upset when you get tired or when you have gas. Tonight is a prime example. Of fussiness = gassiness. You were tired as well, but the fussing was a direct result of your digestive system. However do I know? Why, you won the gold medal in poop, that's how. GOLD MEDAL. As in you were eating, the perfect time to load up the diaper, and you began your typical squirty business.

Then you did it again.

Oh, and once more.

These three, shall we say, deposits, were punctuated with some very airy, explosive releases of gas that your father would certainly be proud of, not to mention your uncles. Realizing the gravity of the situation, I called your father into the room to help with the cleanup. I mentioned the magnitude of your endeavors, and as we were removing your gown - yes, the perfectly cute mooooooo gown shown above - he says "I think it leaked."

The understatement of the month, indeed.

I would have taken a photo of your gown masterpiece, but I decided to spare the faint of heart and stomach. Suffice it to say that your yellow gown was not so much so up the entire back. The diaper didn't leak, you simply blew it out.

I see you think that's funny:



You are certainly growing. We are all guessing how much you will weigh at your doctor's appointment today. I think you will be somewhere in the eleven pound range. Your arms and legs are getting chubbier by the day and your tummy fills out all of your clothing now.

We met with our financial advisor this past week so that we could be sure to save some money for your education. She made sure to let us know how much it will supposedly cost to send you to Virginia Tech in eighteen years. It is a good thing, too, since you are already telling us your plans...or at least Dave hopes you are:



We have five instruments in the house, so hopefully you will take up at least one of them. You can then go and have a fabulous time in the MVs.

You are much stronger this month as well. You don't love tummy time yet, but you tolerate it for a while. You can hold your head up and turn it from side to side all on your own. You especially love to be in control of your head when we are holding you over our shoulder; we have to watch out to make sure that you don't fling yourself off into the abyss.



Just recently, as in the last week or so, you have learned two very important things. One is how to get your left hand into your mouth. You began by aiming for your mouth with a closed fist. Sometimes you ran into your chin, how dare that thing get in your way, but eventually you figured out the path to your mouth.

Unfortunately, a closed fist does not a pacifier make. Also, it is a very loud sucking implement! Thankfully, you soon decided that you preferred the actual pacifier to a closed fist.

Not so much on the pacifier verses open hand, however. You very much enjoy sucking on your fingers, now that you've mastered the open-hand-into-mouth technique. In fact, you practice that move all day long. It is a wet, slimy job, but you are happy to oblige.

The second thing that you've learned to do is to smile when something makes you happy. You still don't grace us with a grin very often, but each day has a few. We are still learning what makes you smile.



I know that you wake up happy in the morning and that you love to make noises. Even better is if you make a noise and I echo it back to you; then you'll make your noise again. Also, you realize that your sounds come from your mouth, because if I move your mouth for you, you'll talk to me. You love it when I mirror your faces back to you and you enjoy trying to do the same to me. You can stick out your tongue, open your mouth, and even sometimes do this:



I can't wait to see what next month brings. More likes and dislikes, more regular sleeping (one can only hope), and loads more smiles are certainly on the agenda.

I love you very much,
Mom

12 of 12 July

As always, thanks to Chad for the idea. All photos were taken in Houston, Texas.

7:31 - Sr. CC, Sta. Clementina, and Pantalones Cortez relax together.


7:32 - Here's the milk I expressed after feeding Sta. Clementina this morning at 6. Oh, the joys of babyhood.


7:46 - We all got ready and headed out for a walk around the neighborhood.


10:45 - Our Spain shelves. You can see two kinds of pottery, our San Roque book, the fan from Cordoba, our bull from Poble Espanyol in Barcelona, and (not really from Spain, but close enough), the Rock of Gibraltar memento from the project and a sample of Gibraltar crystal. And yes - we don't have anywhere else to display things in the house.



10:47 - Is this not the cutest thing ever? B&B sent this to Sta. Clementina and if she doesn't want it (though I fail to see how that could possibly happen) then I sure do! Cuteness in a wee knit package. Fabulous!


10:48 - Pantalones Cortez is wondering why oh why he isn't allowed to bark at the yard men. Aside from the fact that it is Saturday and they aren't even close to our house as they aren't our yard men, there's the whole NOT YOUR JOB factor, dog. Jeepers.


10:49 - Sleepy-head demonstrating perfect form.
How tough it is to be zero.


13:18 - Lunch was a sandwich (turkey, spinach, colby-jack and mustard) and some of these. They are addictive, so watch out!


13:19 - While I ate, I read some of this book. Mom left a few books here in case I have time to read. I've figured out how to read while feeding Sta. Clementina, among other things and so far I've read three of the books she left for me.


13:20 - Sr. CC's Mom, AKA Grammie, made this for Sta. Clementina. Everyone together now: Awww


18:12 - Bath time!


18:59 - Don't get excited; the "sleep" only lasted about two seconds after this photo was taken. Sta. Clementina is waving to all of you. Howdy indeed.



That is it. My day is still baby oriented, but she's only six weeks old, so that is to be expected. I think my Mom (Guga) will be here next month on the twelfth, so maybe the photos, and my day, will be a little more exciting!

Hasta luego,
~ CC