Tickle War

Laine is asleep for a catnap, so I have time for this quick little story that happened a little while ago:

I was burping Laine and, as usual, she was falling asleep during it. (She does not like her back rubbed but she finds it soothing to be whacked on the back, go figure) I started doing various things to see if I could rouse her. I grabbed both of her feet and kicked them back and forth while saying, "Look, Laine, you’re swimming!" but that did not work. I tried asking her what she did today but that did not work. I tried telling her about my day but that also did not work. So I decided to see if she was ticklish in her armpits. She was! "Heeheehee," Mommy said in a devilish voice. "So if I do this (Mommy tickles armpits) you are going to wake up?" Laine wiggled and squirmed out of the burping position. I stopped tickling her and rested my left arm on the back of the couch while my right hand tried burping her again.

I was wearing the Boppy and when I wear it (which is pretty much all the time) I permit Laine to wiggle herself into whatever position she gets herself into. Sometimes when she is tired she throws her weight to the side, so that she is on her side with our tummies touching, and instantly falls asleep.

I was still grinning from my cunning way of waking her up to get one last burp out. However, she threw her weight towards my left side, and instead of falling asleep, she stretched out her arms. Her left hand went directly into my left armpit where she proceeded to move her wrist back and forth. "Hey!" I said. She grinned right before falling asleep as if she was thinking, "Payback is a pain in the butt, isn't it Mommy?"

An Update

It has been long since I have updated. Laine is growing up. She has slept in her own room for the past couple of nights. She seems to snort less there. Oh, yes, Laine snorts in her sleep. She has a knack for snorting herself awake... poor thing. Since this has freed up the bassinet, Asuka as re-established it as her napping spot.

Hiccups are still prevalent. We think the strong ones hurt her based on her reaction (aka- screaming).

We do tummy-time for about 5 minutes each day. Sometimes it ends in tears. She is now interested in staring at her toys and will look at her rattles. She is still doing really well with head control when she is sitting up. Well, unless she is tired… then she just moves around like a drunk. She can now hold her own weight on her legs for upwards of 5 seconds.

Daddy enjoyed his first Father’s Day. Laine got him a handprint kit that we are going to put her footprints in. Mommy originally went out and bought Plaster of Paris for the craft project, however the box had several warnings about it causing cancer and that it should not come in contact with human skin. (Yeah, where was that warning label when I was a child?) So that went back to the store and we picked up a non-cancer forming version.

Additionally, Laine is learning how to be a good Red Sox fan. Thanks to her Uncle Kevin, she can sport her team’s logo. And tonight I reviewed the basic rules of baseball again while watching the Red Sox / Braves game. She was riveted!



We had a personal chef come to the house on Wednesday. She cooked five meals for Mommy and Daddy. It was all paid for through a gift from Daddy’s co-workers. (Thank you Al’s co-workers!) It was kinda cool, she came with everything. She brought her own pots, pans, and even cutting boards! She only used our sink, oven, microwave... and that’s it. She brought all the ingredients, even salt and pepper. She was here for three and a half hours and left the kitchen spotless.

I know lots of other things have happened... but quite frankly I can't think straight at the moment. Bedtime for Mommy!

Laine, meet Avô & Avó

Newborn Appointment

Our little one is now 9 pounds and 21 inches tall. (Sniff... sniff... they grow up so fast!)

We saw a new and different Doc this time. Not as impressed. Before Laine even met her, she made it known that she did not like her by... pooping on Daddy. "Watch out, I am fully loaded and I don't want to be here."

Also Mommy is not allowed in grocery stores or shopping centers per this Doc. Fancy that... (Mommy rolls her eyes)

Avo & Avo Braga arrived today for their visit. I should have gotten a picture of me after I opened all the presents that came down with them. All you would have seen was the top of my head. The rest? Presents!

So many hours in the day... so little time

Seriously! There are 24 hours in a day. Yet, I only get an hour or two (if I am lucky) of "free" time. Therefore I apologize for the lack of postings recently.

Here are two Mommy-Cam videos. Please note that Mommy is an idiot and did not realize that a video image could not be rotated after the fact. To compensate, just tilt your head. Also note in both of these videos Daddy is NOT holding Laine's head up. She is holding it up on her own. We have noticed that she has amazingly strong neck and back muscles. I attribute it to the 2-4 hiccup attacks she would have in my belly each day. God knows if that is what did it or not though.





In other news:
-Last Friday, Laine became a 10 fingered woman. Her pinkies look great!
-Our specially ordered Amish rocking chair should be picked up by FedEx today in PA. I think it should arrive here by Thursday at the latest.
-Laine likes to bury her face in Mommy & Daddy's chest while napping. Apparently Mommy used to do this as a baby... oh wait... Mommy still likes to sleep flat on her face. It is a rare art-form to be able to sleep directly on one's nose without suffocating. And Laine has mastered it already!
-The umbilical cord still has not fallen off. I wonder if the doc on Wednesday's appointment will do any finagling with it.
-My mom left on Saturday. There were many tears (from both Grammie and Laine). There were smiles. And there were some "see you laters."
-During my mom's visit we did three separate tours of local daycares. Two here in our town and one in downtown Atl. Our top choice is the one by my work. We are keeping the option of moving her to our second choice once availability opens up due to their proximity to our house and their quality program. Their wait list is approximately 8 months to a year long! (Although the program by my work is equally, if not better, in educational quality. Cross your fingers that they will have availability in mid-August!)
-It is great that NPR plays classical music during the day. Laine is learning to enjoy it.