merry christmas...

merry chritmas from dill, ty, and karys...

-ty

twas the night before christmas...

twas the night before christmas, when all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse...

(or a daddy)
(or a baby)
the stockings were hung by the chimney with care, in hopes that st. nicholas soon would be there…
this is k's first christmas and we (well really i) wanted to start some christmas traditions. so here's what we did:

• we baked cookies: chocolate chip and oatmeal chocolate chip--YUMMY...
• we got k some christmas pajamas: my sister and i always got christmas pj's growing up--they usually matched. they were the one "present" we were allowed to open on christmas eve. we wore the that night and had them on when we took photos opening our gifts on christmas morning...
• we read how the grinch stole christmas: it was k's beadtime story tonight...
• tomorrow morning we will read the nativity story from the bible...
  

we will probably add more (in the years to come) but that's how we spent out first christmas eve as a family of three. i loved it! dill and i both agree this is the best christmas ever because we have been blessed with the greatest gift...
-ty

roll baby roll...

karys rolled over (from her tummy to her back) on friday. she actually did it twice (and i got the second one on video). i was telling her that one of the "milestones" is for babies to roll tummy to back in their fourth month. but i told her "cool" babies do it sooner. guess she wanted to show me she was cool and rolled over. the first time she did it i yelled so loud i scared her and made her cry. so i ran and got the video camera and she did it again. i'm so proud if her. guess all the "tummy time" has payed off. but (being the diva she is & not scumming to peer pressure twice) she hasn't rolled since friday. guess now that she's showed me she knows how, she won't do it again until she feels like it...
-ty

photo friday (12/21)...

here are some photos from the week...

(notice her boots from her aunt valarie. thanks aunt val...)
-ty

say my name, say my name...

babies are supposed to start recognizing their name around three months. we generally call karys by her name. but we also call her k (for short), puddin' pie, coco puff, love bug, KRS1 and spitty/poopie (if you could see some of the messes she's made you'd agree that name is fitting). her aunt shona sometimes calls her care bear and her aunt valarie has called her queen elizabeth. so she could easily get confused. but i do think she's starting to recognize her name when i call her...
-ty

photo friday (12/14)...

(surprisingly) i only took one photo of k this week (actually since the week starts on sunday i took more--see "it's beginning to look a lot like christmas" post). but only one since then. it was of k reading "the very hungry caterpillar" (which she loves--thanks roy, dionne, and naiem)...


since i only have one photo that i took, i'll post the photos from her photo session in october...

it's funny. she looks different (and so little) in those photos. what a difference a month makes...
-ty

UPDATE:
here are two photos from last week with k in her dress that she wore to the baby ceremony at our church

she "talks" (a LOT)...

karys likes to "talk"/babble. she's been doing this for awhile. i think people thought i was crazy when i told them i had "conversations" with k where she actually responded (starting at 3 weeks old). now that other people have seen/heard her "talk" (she even calls her mom-mom every morning for a chat) they believe me when i say she talk a LOT. dill agrees. when she work up at 6:30 this morning talking he (lovingly) said "wow even you don't talk as much as she does!" (thanks dill--i guess he thinks i talk a lot too.) karys also sings (which sounds different than her regular "talk"). i have video of her talking and singing but i can't figure out how to download and post it yet. as soon as i do you'll get a sneak peek at k's first concert...

it's beginning to look a lot like christmas...

on sunday they had a baby celebration for karys and four other babies at our church. mom-mom, pop-pop, aunt lashona & kanaiya came up to celebrate. the celebration was really nice but (unfortunately) since we were running late (as usual) i forgot the camera...

after church the family came back to our house. dill and pop-pop watched the giants beat the eagles (i don't want to hear any comments--especially from uncle boogie) and mom-mom, aunt shon, kanaiya and i put up the christmas tree (karys watched). i really wasn't planing on putting up a tree but mom-mom convinced us and i'm glad we did because k loved the lights! we haven't decorate it yet (we're going to use the ornaments from our wedding) but it's beginning to look a lot like christmas...
-ty

the crib...

karys slept in her crib for the first time last monday. dill and i originally said she's stay in the room with us until around three months but we decided to give the crib a try a little early. her sleep pattern has been off from the holiday and traveling so last monday (her first night in the crib) she woke up every two hours from about 11pm until about 4am. after numerous time of walking back and forth to her room i just finally brought her in the room with us. last tuesday the monitor died (i thought it was broken but the next day dill told me it just needed to be charged) so i decided to let her sleep in the room with us again. last wednesday after we put her to bed she kept waking up so i let her sleep in our room. last thursday i was honest with my self and finally admitted i really just wanted her in our room. so sine the she's been in her bassinet in our room. thanks aunt erica & uncle boogie. the crib was a GREAT gift and i promise she'll sleep in it. maybe i'll try it again next week...
-ty

photos (i should have posted on) friday...

here are photos from last week that i should have posted on friday...

k in her scrubs from aunt roseann & uncle tony
k in her "thanksgiving" dress (that he didn't get to wear on thanksgiving because it was so hot at mom-mom & pop-pop's house)
rocking the layered look (like her auntie shon)
in robe & bunny slippers
-ty

2 month doctor's appointment and shots...

today k had her 2 month dr. appointment. dill and i took her to her appointment. i was a little anxious about this appointment because at two moths most babies begin immunizations (so k was scheduled for two shots). her dr. gave her the regular physical and confirmed that she has eczema :( then the nurse came in to give the shot. i was hoping they would let dill hold her but the nurse said she had to be on the table/bed. so he held her hand. i had to turn away when the nurse gave her the actual shot (i know i'm a punk) but miss k was a brave. she cried for a bit but i immediately picked her up and she calmed down. she pouted for on the way to the car but fell asleep on the way home. she stay asleep for almost three hours but then woke up happy and smiling. i was worried she'd be fussy but my little girl was her normal happy self (except she did nap more than usual).

k also grew (quite a bit) from her 1 month appointment. here are her new stats:
weight- 11 lb. 8.5 oz. (50th percentile for age)
length- 23 in. (50th percentile for age)
head circumference- 39 cm

here are a couple photos from the day...

k in the waiting room (i wonder if she knew what was going to happen)


dill talking to her before the nurse came to give her the shot

-ty

who does karys look like?

the jury is still out on who karys looks like. i often hear she looks like me but quite a few people have said she looks like dill too. i'm not sure. some days i think she looks like me and other days i agree she looks like dill. so i found a look-alike meter online for a more "objective" opinion and here are the results:









so (it depends on the photos but) for the most part k look like me. or at least that's what the look alike meter says...
-ty

two months old...

karys is two months old today! time is sure going by quickly. here's her two month photo (in her monthsies)...




-ty

montage monday...

i haven't had a chance to blog in awhile. karys and i were in nj last week and the last two days k's sleeping pattern has been crazy (i'll post about it later). so i missed two photo fridays :( to make up for it i'll call today montage monday. enjoy!



-ty

50 things about karys...

karys is 50 days old so i figured i'd write 50 things (you may or may not know) about her...

1. karys' name is derived from greek χαρις (charis).
   
2. it means "grace" or "favourite".
3. her middle name is elizabeth (after her maternal great-great-grandmother).
4. k was born on sept. 26 (which is the 269th day of the year--270th in leap years).
5. she was born after her due date.
6. she shares her birthday with writer t. s. eliot, former south african politician winnie mandela, former governor of new jersey christine todd whitman, actress/singer olivia newton-john, singer cindy herron (from en vogue), actress/singer christina milian, tennis pro serena williams, my mom's good friend karen c., my former neighbor mr. byard, and cousin bernadette.
7. her astrological sign is a libra.
8. k's birthstone is sapphire (for clear thinking).
9. her flower is the morning_glory.
10. she was born in the chinese year of the pig.
11. she snores (which she gets from her daddy).
    
12. from all early indications she’s going to be a diva. at her 1 month pediatrician visit the nurse called her a piece of work.
13. she can eat. she's been a good eater from day one--in fact at her one week dr. appointment she was almost at her birth weight again.
    
14. she is ticklish.
15. k started sleeping through the night at about 6 weeks old (let's hope she continues this).
16. she stopped being swaddled at 6 weeks.
17. she likes baths now (initially she screamed through them).
18. she doesn't like things (i.e., shirts, sleepers, etc.) going over her face.
    
19. she is a night owl (like her mommy).
20. she like to sleep late (also like her mommy).
    
21. she likes music (she "sings" and "dances" to it).
22. she prefers upbeat music rather than ballads (which she also gets from her daddy).
    
23. she has a dimple (like her grandma elmore & uncle boogie) on her right cheek.
24. k has good lungs and can get quite loud.
25. her lungs have always worked well. she came out screaming (in fact she got a 9 and 10 on her apgars).
    
26. she wakes up in the morning smiling/happy.
27. she like to talk to/call her "mom-mom" while she gets her morning diaper change.
    
28. she loves to be held.
29. she likes to swing (like her cousin kanaiya).
    
30. she talks/babbles a lot! (she’ll probably get in trouble--like her mommy--for talking in school).
31. she is inquisitive/alert and takes in her surroundings.
    
32. she's very expressive and makes funny faces. (her daddy says some of her faces remind him of her aunt valarie).
    
33. she takes a long time to burp--although lately she's getting better.
34. she likes napping on her daddy's chest.
35. she's social and seems to enjoy meeting new people.
    
36. she loves to be read to. (just like her daddy--who listens to audio books).
    
37. she has hands and feet like her daddy.
    
38. she has eyes like her mommy.
    
39. she likes to blow spit bubbles (like her auntie lashona did when she was little).
40. she's a heavy sleeper (when we try to wake her up).
41. but she's a light sleeper when we want her to sleep.
    
42. she does't really like "tummy time" (but will tolerate it sometimes).
    
43. she dressed up as a chili pepper for halloween 2007.
44. she poots loud (and a lot)!
45. she snorts when she laughs (like her daddy).
46. she grunts when she’s frustrated/mad.
47. she will start kindergarten in 2013,
48. be old enough to drive a car in 2023,
49. finish high school in 2026,
    
50. and will graduate from college with the class of 2030, give or take a year...

-ty

sleeping throught the night and no more swaddle...

karys is starting to sleep through the night (STTN). she slept from midnight until at least 4:30am (and sometimes 5am or 6am) four times last week and and almost every night this week. YAHOO! she also doesn't need to be swaddled anymore. instead she's using a wearable blanket. my little baby is growing up. in fact, she's 7 weeks old today. she's getting bigger and doing more and more each day...
-ty

photo friday (11/9)...

this week's photo friday features karys "playing"...

tummy time (which she usually doesn't like)
looking in the mirror
-ty

doctors' appointments (for karys and mom)

yesterday karys and i both had doctor's appointments. mine was scheduled. it was supposed to be a "routine" 6 week postpartum visit. but it wasn't so routine. i found out i probably have (not one but) two hernias. one (an umbilical) hernia is probably the result of carrying such a big baby and the other (an incision) hernia is from the c-section. sadly, they may require surgery. that little (or not so little) baby did a number on my body. well the pregnancy went well it was just she was a big girl and i stomach got very big. it looked crazy. here's a photo in case you didn't see the original post...k's appointment wasn't scheduled. i took her in because what i thought was a heat rash was getting worse. come to find out it wasn't heat rash but probably infant seborrhoeic dermatitus (more commonly known as cradle cap) on her forehead, eyelids, ears, and neck. it doesn't see to bother her and the pediatrician said it was temporary and fairly common. he told us to use cetaphil body wash and cream. hopefully the cetaphil will help...