All posts about our firstborn, Mio Elise Allen.
Last Sunday, we spent the afternoon strolling around Lake Chabot with Dan’s parents. It was a beautiful, sunny day and we enjoyed some quality time with the family and got some exercise while walking for about four miles around the lake. (I couldn’t handle the full seven mile trek around the lake, even in flats….)
Now that it’s summer, we’re looking forward to getting out more and enjoying the outdoors with our little Mio!
When Mio was still in my belly, everyone teased us about the lack of sleep we’d get once she was out. Although we expected to have sleepless nights, nothing can truly prepare you for it. In all honesty, it sucks. Mio has hijacked our sleep schedule for the past couple months, but we can’t hate her for it — she’s a newborn, and it’s what babies do. So we have been at her mercy for the past couple months…
But last night was different. We put her down to sleep in her nursery at around 11pm, and as I do every night, I mentally prepared myself to wake up 3 or 4 hours later to her cries. I went to sleep too, so I could get as much rest as possible before the middle-of-the-night feeding.
When I awoke to her cries, I strangely felt much more well-rested than usual. Rubbing my eyes, I looked at the clock and was aghast to see that it was almost 7am!
What I had only dreamed of in the past two months had happened — she slept through the night. For EIGHT hours! On her own — no sleeping training or anything!
I don’t dare assume that this will be a regular thing from hereon just yet… but I’m beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel! 🙂
Some early mornings when Mio wakes up, I’ll feed her and then bring her over to our bed to cuddle with us as we go back to sleep, instead of putting her back into her crib. Dan woke up to get ready for work and captured this photo of Mio and I asleep… he got a kick out of how we were angled the same way, our faces were pointing in the same direction, and even our arms are in the same pose! I have to admit, it was pretty funny.
(I have taken the liberty of blurring out my face, as I would like to spare our audience of my makeup-less sleep face… one less thing on the web to be horrified by!)
Mio’s been getting a lot better at holding up her head during tummy time lately….
We are so proud of her! 🙂
Yesterday morning, Dan and I went to the pediatrician for Mio’s 2-month doctor’s visit. She got the six vaccinations that are typically administered for two-month old babies:
I braced myself for a lot of baby tears and screaming, and sure enough Mio did scream and cry. 🙁 We took some videos to document the expereince.
Here she is peacefully sleeping in the waiting room, before getting admitted:
…and here she is getting her vaccinations. One orally administered vaccine, and the other five were delivered via three shots.
We definitely cringed during that first cry, but Dan couldn’t help but laugh a little because it was so drawn out that her voice ran out. Poor Mio… but thankfully she calmed pretty quickly when she was held after it was all done. When we first got home, though, she was pretty fussy and would cry inconsolably, even though I’d feed and hold her… probably due to discomfort from the shots. She has been sleeping for slightly longer stretches of time than usual since, but otherwise she seems to be doing okay.
At the doctor, Mio weighed in at 12 lbs 7 oz, in the 85th growth percentile based on weight-for-age.
She measured 22.75 inches long, in the 65th growth percentile based on length-for-age.
Mio’s head circumference was 16 inches, which is in the 88th growth percentile based on head circumference-for-age.
Her overall growth is above average and healthy. It is really amazing to watch her grow, and I’m looking forward to how our little Mio will continue to blossom and thrive. 🙂