Poor girl - she has reflux!

Well, some of you know that we've had a very difficult week with Camila. She basically cries from 9am-9pm every day, unless she's being held or is in her Snugli. We finally decided to call her Pediatrician, and he recommended that we come in for a visit. We saw him this morning, and he thinks the poor girl has acid reflux! That's why she cries whenever we lay her down (and won't sleep during the day), and wants to be held all the time. Hopefully the medicine he gave her will help; Fabricio and I were getting pretty frustrated and worried that we were looking at a future of having to hold her 24/7! We've also eliminated any possibility of being able to use a norma diaper rash cream with her. Camila has super sensitive skin, and we can only use lanolin. Otherwise she breaks out into a nasty rash. It doesn't look like she'll be able to love Bath and Body Works like her mother! On another note, I definitely need to give up the newborn clothes... She's 10 lbs 6 oz!! We were completely shocked (she's gained 2 1/2 lbs in 4 weeks), but her doctor said it was fantastic. She'll be outgrowing her 3 month clothes soon (8-12 lbs!) But it's nice to know that even though she has reflux, sensitive skin, etc, at least we're doing well as parents in helping her gain weight. ;)

Camila's First Thanksgiving

Camila celebrated her first Thanksgiving, and she was nice enough to let Fabricio and I enjoy the first 10 minutes of dinner before she started to cry and want to be held.... We had a great dinner (thanks Mom!) and it was nice spending time with family.

Here's a picture of Camila showing off the beautiful red sweater that Angie Q knitted for her. Isn't she cute!?

I don't know if this picture does full justice, but Camila is outgrowing her newborn clothes. Granted, we were able to keep her in them for 6 weeks, but I'm having a difficult time accepting that she's grown out of them. I keep trying to squeeze her into them. I guess it's time to pull out the 0-3 month sleep & plays!

My parents watched Camila for a couple of hours on Saturday so Fabricio and I could see a movie. ALthough we both kept whispering during the movie (August Rush - we loved it!) that we couldn't stop thinking of her, it was really nice to go on a date! :)

Fortunately, Camila behaved at Grandma & Grandpa's, so hopefully they'll watch her again! ;)

We almost cancelled our Saturday movie because she had a really rough night the night before. She was up until 3:00am! She slept all day Saturday, had a good night that night, but then Sunday was really tough. She would cry if she wasn't held, wouldn't sleep unless she was being held, etc. Frankly, it was exhausting for us and for her. So much so that she slept through the night on Sunday (12-6)! We're going to try to keep her on more of a routine so hopefully she'll sleep better during the day. Already today (Tuesday) I tried to implement a daytime napping routine, and was able to get her to nap for 40 minutes in her pack and play, which is huge for her. We're going to continue trying to teach her that her pack and play (and eventually her crib) is the place where she sleeps. Wish us luck!

A few other things about what she's been up to - she's getting better at finding/sucking her fist. Her fingers are too little to suck on, so she's taken to sucking on her entire fist. She's not too interested in her pet`e (spanish for paci) anymore, which is fine with me. We also took her to the mall again yesterday, and she was great! She's starting to enjoy being in her carseat (imagine!) and loves to look around at everything. She also demands to be held and walked around because she's interested in everything around her (too bad that means we have to hold her often!)

Oh, I forgot to mention that she's developed a new skill - lip smacking! It's hilarious to watch her smack her lips. She's clearly learning more about what she can do. We're really enjoying interacting with her, watching her follow us around the room with her eyes, smiling at us, licking her lips, cooing back, etc. It's amazing how quickly time goes by during those moments (and then she gets cranky and starts to fuss!) ;)

1 month old!

Camila had her 1 month "birthday" on Friday. While it sounds like a cliche, I can't believe how quickly the time has gone! I know she's getting bigger (her newborn clothes are getting tight) but it's difficult to remember just how small she was when she was born. We bought a video camera to hopefully capture some memorable moments. :)

We had a difficult few days with her, so Friday I decided to just get her out of the house and go for a drive. I ended up driving her around for a couple of hours, and she slept in her carseat the entire time! She slept like a champ that night (seriously, 5 hours straight!) We also had another great night Saturday night (another 5 hours). I think she was getting over-tired earlier in the week, as she wasn't sleeping at all during the day. Hopefully we'll continue to get good nights out of her, even though I know it will be mixed with difficult nights here and there. Hopefully the good nights will continue to outnumber the difficult nights! The picture above is of her actually sleeping in her carseat!

Just a fun picture of her. :)

Here's a picture of Camila, Grandma Nelson, and Phoebe the cat. My parents' and Melissa's cats were very interested in Camila when we were out there on Friday and again on Saturday. They were especially interested in (or afraid of) her crying!

And another fun picture of her with her Daddy, showing off her cute outfit!

We've noticed that she's starting to smile more regularly in the last week, and while the books all say that she's too young and it's likely gas, she usually smiles when she's interacting with us. If we make a funny face or smile at her, she'll smile back. Even if she's not actually smiling at us, it's fun to think that she actually is!Also, we've noticed that she's "finding her voice" this past week. If we put her in her swing when she's alert, but don't start the mobile, she'll make a soft "ahh" sound while staring at the mobile. It's her way of telling us "hey guys, I want to see my birdies flying!"

4 weeks old!

I can't believe how quickly the weeks have gone by. Camila is already 4 weeks old today, and will be a month old on Friday! We snapped a few pictures of her this morning trying to get a shot of her smiling.

Misc pictures

I thought I'd post a few misc pictures. Below is her new favorite sleeping/hanging out position. Yep, she LOVES being in her Snugli. The funny thing is she has to have her right arm tucked inside the Snugli, but her left arm can hang out. She'll fuss and cry if her right arm isn't close to her (probably because she likes to suck on her hand!)

The other morning Fabricio and his mom were downstairs with Camila, and all of the sudden Camila started to cry. Well, she was pulling her own hair! I was able to get a picture of her holding on to her hair (maybe she learned not to pull it!)

Ummm... a picture of her when she first goes into her carseat. Fortunately she is starting to like it more than she used to, and the crying (ok, screaming!) stops as soon as we get the car in motion. Yesterday we went to Target to pick up a few things. She was crying when we first put her in (as seen below!) but stopped in the car, was quiet the whole time at Target, but started crying as soon as we got back in the car. Go figure! (But the timing was great for us!)

This might not be the best picture, but here is Camila in a newborn onesie. She's already outgrowing them! I can't believe how quickly she's growing!

Mall of America

This past Saturday we went to the Mall of American for a fund raising walk (at 8:00 am!) We almost didn't go because Camila had a really difficult day on Friday, but she woke up Saturday morning just in time for us to be able to get ready and go to the MOA. She was such a trooper, and let us stay until noon! It was so nice to get out of the house and do some shopping. She was quiet most of the time (sleeping and quietly alert) except for a few moments. Fortunately, she started crying right when we were walking by the Rainforest Cafe, and they have that waterfall on the wall. Camila loves to hear the sound of running water (plus it was loud enough to cover her crying) that she settled down in just a few minutes. We took the opportunity to take some pictures. Below are a couple pictures of us in front of the Rainforest Cafe (so she's peaceful!)

More pictures

Wow! Camila has changed a lot. We were just looking at some pictures from her early days, and she looks quite different. She's beginning to interact a little bit with us, and that is really rewarding. She is also trying to focus and to follow objects and things. It is quite amazing her transformation. The pictures include her first bottle with me, a bath with Grandma, and just hanging out with mommy after breakfast.

Halloween

Ok. So we couldn't resist it; Camila HAD to have her first Halloween celebration. It was totally worth it. We are not sure our "little pumpkin" enjoyed the moment as much as we did. Oh well...