Dra. Marielena Velez

A few weekends ago, Isaiah and I had the joy of going out to Cleveland, OH to see my sister, Marielena graduate from Medical School. It was really special because she was graduating, but also because it was the first time she was meeting Isaiah. They took to each other quite well! It was also the first time that I have traveled alone with Isaiah. I wasn't really "alone" in that we went with a lot of family members, but I mean "alone" as in without Tyler. It was a lot of fun, and Isaiah is a really good traveling baby. He slept most of the 10 hour car ride out there, and didn't make a peep during the graduation, or dinner. Nights were the hardest, followed by the morning when I had to get both of us ready and dressed. I am very proud to say though, that generally speaking, I was very much so on time. Which is saying a lot when you have a newborn. I definitely am a lot more comfortable with the idea of taking him out and about. Although the next test will be doing it really without any help. I'm not really in a rush to try that out.
Here are some pictures of the weekend. Enjoy!

Posing with Abuela at the Graduation Brunch


Mari and Isaiah meeting each other



Celi, the model!


Posing with Doctora Velez!

My new favorite picture of Isaiah and I

7 weeks and new milestones!

So the past few weeks haven't been particularly exciting except for the fact that Isaiah is learning to roll over! He can roll partially over. So he can roll from him chest to his side, or his back to his side. So this means a number of things have to change, like I can't leave him on the couch on the Boppy, and walk away, and I can't leave him on the changing table even for one instant!

He can also see you! It's really clear that he sees people, follows them, and tracks people and objects A LOT!

Additionally, he laughs and giggles! (see video below!) He definitely smiled a lot, and laughs occasionally, but I guess I haven't found the right thing to crack him up again!

Something that cracked us up was that we discovered that the food processor calms him down! I'd heard that white noise calms babies (see: The Happiest Baby on the Block), but it was still a surprise. Here's how it happened. I was making hummus in the kitchen, and Tyler was hanging out with Isaiah, who was not feeling life at the moment. He came into the kitchen with the baby to show me something or tell me something, and then after we talked for a moment, I turned on the food processor, not really thinking anything of it. After a few seconds, Isaiah chilled!! Tyler and I laughed and then I grabbed my camera, (read: Iphone)...check it out for yourself!

Other milstones are that Isaiah finally used his crib for the first time! He didn't sleep in it, but instead just played in it for a while and enjoyed the mobile. You can definitely see him follow the objects, and when it stopped moving and playing music, he definitely noticed!

He is changing so much! It's incredible that he is 7 weeks old! That seems very fast and yet very slow at the same time. We are enjoying him so much. It is still very hard at times, but overall, it is going really well. We love him so much...and so far it seems he thinks we are okay too.

Feliz Dia de Las Madres!

This year was my first Mother's Day and it was definitely different. It was odd to be a part of the celebration after 25 years of celebrating others. All in all though it was really nice. Tyler (and Isaiah) got me a beautiful necklace, and I got to spend the day with my family. It's the first time in a long time that I have been with my family for Mother's Day. I got my Mom the best present I could...letting her spend the day with her grandson!

She's squishing me Mom!!

We also had some fun with Isaiah. Celi got my grandmother a hanging planter, with some hanging baskets. t's a really nice setup...especially when you put a baby in it! While Isaiah didn't really see the humor in it, we adults sure did!
We finished the evening off with a nice family dinner. Its the first time i think that Tyler got to just hang out at my parent's house for a bit, instead of being on his way to or from work. All in all, it was a really good day, and here are the pictures to prove it!

look at that face!

Checking out Mama

with Abuelo

1 month and counting!

As unbelievable as it may seem, Isaiah is one month old! (or a little older once I post this.) I really cannot believe it! I'm not sure if time normally flies this quickly, or if the sleep deprivation helps it go a bit quicker. Milestones for this month:

- Isaiah sleeps for an average of 5 hours a night. Sometimes it 4, some (really lucky nights) its 6 hours. He knows when its nighttime somehow, so even if he doesn't sleep during the day, from approximately 10pm - 2/4am, he is OUT like a light!

- He can hold his head up for a good number of seconds! and he can lift his head up and move it from side to side. (I'm sorry if most of you don't care about these little details...this is what my life is about now! )

- He can track objects/people for a few inches

- He smiles in his sleep, and I swear I saw him smile today, while he was wide awake!

- He observes everything! He keeps his eyes open all the time now, not like those first few days where we didn't even know what color his eyes were.

- His eyes have transitioned from a very dark blue, to hazel in the center, and blue on the edges.

And this is what he looks like at one month!

A visit from some Midwesterners!

(who knew that two light people could make a dark baby? jk jk)

This past weekend we were very excited to be able to introduce Isaiah to his Titi Alicia and Tio Justin! Alicia and Justin live in St. Louis, MO so we don't get to see them that often, and we hadn't seen them since Thanksgiving 2009, so this weekend was the first opportunity for them to meet their nephew. It was also their first time to Philadelphia, so after work on Saturday, all 5 of us went down to Center City. We walked around (and ate...of course!) at Reading Terminal Market, and visited the Liberty Bell and Independence Mall.

I was kind of nervous at the idea of taking Isaiah out for an extended amount of time, but he was GREAT! He slept pretty much the whole time, and only cried when he got hungry. As long as we fed him though, he settled right down. WE ARE SO LUCKY! Granted that night, he woke up REALLY early, but I guess you have to expect that when you sleep all day.