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August 28, 2007

Sienna's First Dim Sum!

Saturday we ventured out to Chinatown to meet up with Pete and Joy at Golden Unicorn for some dim sum! Of course, it had to be the muggiest, yuckiest day but we survived.

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Ok, she's not really looking at the har kow here. She just woke up from a short nap near the end of our meal so I wanted to document her first dim sum outting. We ended up taking her out anyway.

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I don't remember what we were looking at and laughing at.

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Shortly after this shot, Sienna spit up on Joy. LOL.

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And the cart ladies all loved Sienna too!

After dim sum, we went for our traditional bubble tea at Tenren. We went to the park so we can feed Sienna her lunch and called it a day!

Posted by luluvision at 09:11 AM | Comments (2)

August 27, 2007

The Mall and Bjorn

Thursday we went out to the mall on Long Island with my parents. Like usual, we head over to Ikea and then to Target through the mall. While in Ikea, I was trying to get Sienna to take a nap. She hasn't been very cooperative with her naps lately. By the time were walked thru Ikea, I knew I was fighting a losing battle so I just took her out and put her in the Baby Bjorn, which I knew she would love. She got so excited! She loves looking around at everything. And I had fun taking a series of goofy pictures of us and my dad.

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So we walked thru the mall over to Target and I'm just walking around shopping for things. About half an hour into shopping in Target, I realized that it was quiet, too quiet! I looked down to see Sienna starting to nod off iin the Bjorn! I didn't think it could happen! She's falling asleep in the Bjorn!! I called my dad over with the carriage and put her in where she slept for about 2 blissful hours. And we were able to enjoy a quiet lunch of Mexican food (the first time my parents tried "Mexican" food!)

I also want to note that Sienna is starting to roll over! Last Monday she woke me up to find her on her tummy in her crib. She has yet to master rolling back although I did see her do it a couple of times. She has rolled over a couple of times in the morning. Here is a cute picture of her sucking on her toes and one playing with her daddy.

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Posted by luluvision at 09:30 AM | Comments (1)

August 21, 2007

A Perfect Day!

Saturday was a beautiful day! It was nice and sunny and the temps were somewhere in the 70's. We decided to take Sienna into the city and bring the baby bjorn. We got off at Union Square and used the elevators. They are very helpful! We had her in the carriage on the way over hoping that she would take a little nap. (She doesn't seem to nap very well on the weekends, we're wondering if it's because Yves is home) She did manage to fall asleep halfway there and while we had lunch at Montien Thai.

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After lunch we decided to stop by Babies R Us (actually Yves suggested it! Can you believe it?). We didn't buy anything but just looked around. Seems I missed the swimwear! Oh well, I'll have to buy something online for Sienna for Chicago. Anyway, we went into Union Square Park afterwards and decided to feed her in there. She loved beiing taken out of the car seat and looking around and everything. So much to see!

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Posted by luluvision at 09:23 AM | Comments (1)

August 20, 2007

Band Meeting 1

Friday I met up with the band and went out to dinner at Loreley's. The food was delicious!! I started off with a wheat beer that I don't remember the name of, especially since they had so many different ones! We were sitting outside and at the only table that didn't have a covering so when it started to rain, we had to go inside.

We ordered warm pretzels and potato pancakes to start off with. I expected more from the pretzel, it was just ok but the potato pancakes were huge! It was really just an oversized hash brown but I love me some hash browns!

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For entree, I got brats (I had too! So much talk about brats lately). They were delicious! Pete got beef roast (also delicious), Tammy got Chicken Paprika (YUM) and Joy got the butcher plate (the bacon wasn't salty at all!)

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I'm afraid the pictures aren't the greatest, we were so into wanting to eat I took them really fast. The food came really fast too so we didn't really linger too long in there. There was a slight issue with the bill, well, really with the waitress. We inadvertently left her only a 10 percent tip, we misread the bill total so the waitress asked us if there was anything wrong with the service since we only left a 10% tip and 'new yorkers usually leave 20.' Well, that really pissed tammy off and she told her off a little bit but was civil about it and gave her another $10. Besides the fact that she was really only serving us at the end since we came in from the back patio. HA!

Anyway, we were still in a good mood and topped off the evening with cupcakes at Sugar Sweet Sunshine and I got a delicious pistachio (my favorite!)

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Posted by luluvision at 08:55 AM | Comments (0)

August 17, 2007

Lunching in Fort Greene

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Tuesday me and Sienna went to have lunch with Brenda, who was on vacation for the week. We went to Chez Lola. It was so delicious!! Surprisingly Sienna was a bit antsy even though I fed her and changed her right before we left to meet Brenda. After we ordered, I took her out of her seat so she could have a look around the restaurant. She loved it! I wish I took pictures of the restaurant, there was so much to see. Lots of oranges and textures (the wine rack was made out of a mattress spring!) Once our dishes came, I put her back in and ended up giving her a paci and she fell asleep! Good girl! I ordered the salmon basil omelette (salmon, goat cheese and scallions) and Brenda got the Croque Madame. YUM!!

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We went for a walk in Fort Greene Park after lunch. What a nice park!! We went around a few times and it's hilly so I got quite a workout. I need to do more of those! LOL. I was so tired when I got home!

And if anyone is keeping tabs on the sleep situation, Tuesday and Wednesday night we had trouble putting her down. We put her down on the earlier side since she really hasn't been taking her afternoon naps and she just didn't want to go down. Then last night we had the AC on because it was so muggy all day and she went down easy and also on the earlier side! She fussed a little bit during Goodnight Moon but did not cry when Yves put her down in the crib. A successful putdown for Yves! Yay! So it seems the AC has a lot to do with how easy she goes down. Of course if it is really cool out, it won't be necessary but from now on, even if it's just a bit warm, we are putting that sucker on for her!

Posted by luluvision at 10:41 AM | Comments (0)

August 14, 2007

Goodnight Moon!

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I think it is pretty clear that Sienna knows Goodnight Moon means bedtime. Yesterday we went with my dad to pick Yves up from the airport. There was traffic on the belt so we got there later than we anticipated and then with lunch and everything, the afternoon really flew by. Sienna wouldn't take an afternoon nap. Which I really wasn't concerned about since she has been doing that lately but I really wanted to give her a bath that night since she hadn't had one all weekend!! Anyway, I put her down on her activity mat and put Sprout (PBS kids channel) on the tv so I could help Yves get his lunch ready for the week. (I know they say not to let children under 2 watch tv at all but as long as her day is well rounded, I am not going to worry about that.) I was at the dining room table cutting up cucumbers and I just had a feeling she fell asleep. I look over and yep, she fell asleep! She ended up only sleeping for an hour so although I knew her bedtime will have to be pushed back because of this, I was hoping it wasn't going to be too late. So we gave her a bath, hung out with her a little bit and gave her the last bottle for the night. Yves took her into her room for reading and by the time he got to Goodnight Moon (I think he even read 2 books prior to that to make sure she was tired), she was bawling! So we let her hang out with us in the living room for a bit. When she did a couple of eye rubs, I took her into her room to finish reading Goodnight Moon. She bawled, really bawled, through the whole thing! So we took her out to the living room again. Instead of having her sit with us on the sofa, I put her down on her activity mat. After a few minutes, she seemed so calm that I thought for sure she was ready for the crib. I picked her up and put her down in her bed. No fuss! She went to sleep and it was about 8:45. Not too bad.

Posted by luluvision at 09:18 AM | Comments (0)

August 13, 2007

An Yves-less weekend

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On Friday Yves left for Chicago to take his annual trip with his friend Rich up to Lake Elkhart for Champ Car Racing. This is the first time Yves left for a trip since Sienna was born. I knew it wouldn't be a big deal since it was only for 4 days but to make sure, I made plans for each day so I wouldn't get lazy and bored.

So Friday Pete came over for lunch since he has half day Fridays. It was a rainy and gloomy day so he picked up salads for us from Whole Foods and delicious strawberry/cake/creamy desserts. YUM! Skippy was very happy to see Pete and basically wore him out! LOL

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I also took a cute video of Pete making Sienna laugh and I'm debating whether to put it on youtube. Since Yves left that morning, I didn't need to walk him until that evening. My parents came over for dinner and I took Skippy out for his walk after I put Sienna to sleep.

Saturday morning I took Sienna with me in the Baby Bjorn while I walked Skippy. It wasn't too bad and as long as I guide Skippy to poop on the concrete so I can kneel down and pick it up, it was fine. The bumblebees came over for potluck. I totally forgot to take pictures of the food! But DeeDee made baked chicken, Ruth made creole shrimp and rice, Joy made brussel sprouts and portabello mushrooms and I made cupcakes and sugarless cookies (which were gross but Ruth liked them). It was a nice and relaxing day and needless to say, ate like a pig! Everyone enjoyed playing with Sienna and Skippy. Even Neo got attention! The weather was beautiful and if only the rest of the summer could be like that day, I'd be such a happy camper.

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Sunday I met up with 2 other moms for a day at the park. We met up at a park in Bensonhurst with a sprinkler. I met up with Regina and Evan (4.5 months), whom I've met before and also Marlissa and Munir (7 months). It was a nice day!

And if you are keeping up with the Sienna sleeping situation that we started last Sunday, here is what is going on. Monday she went down like that (snap!). Me and Yves were amazed. She ended up waking up around 12:30 in the morning and took the paci after 3 tries. Tuesday it took an hour to get her down and I ended up giving her the paci and she fell asleep after that (I was a little surprised she still had the paci in her mouth a couple of hours later, it usually comes out of her mouth after she falls asleep!). Wednesday she went down easy after about 5-10 minutes and then Thursday and Friday and Sunday, all easy!! I wanted to note that Monday and Wed. we had the air conditioner on but we didn't for Thursday and Friday so maybe it was just a coincidence. Now for Saturday. Well, she was showing the signs of tiredness around the time all the bees were leaving so the bees let themselves out while I read Sienna her bedtime stories. So, while I'm sitting there I thought to myself "I betcha DeeDee is going to forget something!" Lo and behold I get a call 2 seconds after I hear the door close. DeeDee forgot her cell phone! LOL. Now, I usually read Sienna 2 books before bedtime and i only finished one when I got the call. I decided to put her down anyway hoping she would fall asleep since I knew she was tired. Well, I put her down, got DeeDee her cell phone and then came back inside to hear Sienna crying. I gave her 10 minutes. She was still crying. I went into her room to soothe her, she stopped crying and I left. Crying starts. I gave her another 10 minutes. Still crying. Then I decided to go back in and read her a 2nd book (I usually end with Goodnight Moon). Well, I did that, put her down and she went out!! I don't know if it was just a coincidence or if she needed a 2nd book or that it was Goodnight Moon. Quite interesting!!

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I know this is blurry but I just love when Sienna sucks on her lower lip and makes these puffy cheeks!!

Posted by luluvision at 09:10 AM | Comments (0)

August 06, 2007

Accidental Parenting

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So me and Yves realized that we were doing some "accidental parenting" meaning we started something with Sienna that we really don't want to become a habit. It seems that Sienna needs a bottle in order to fall asleep for the night. It's not a terrible thing but we would rather she be able to fall asleep on her own. It was very rare that we would be able to put her in her crib or pen and she would go to sleep, even when she shows 'the signs' of tiredness. But the bottle was always magic. We would give her her nighttime bottle, she would drink the majority of it or even all of it and either want more (which she usually would take a couple of sips of her next bottle rendering the rest of the bottle garbage!) and then fall asleep. We would gently lay her down in her crib and then go about our merry business for the evening. On rare occasions, she'll wake up and cry but mostly, she was out for the night.

Last week she started to not take her afternoon naps, which started this whole realization. Then I discovered something called "4 month regression." Even tho Sienna is technically going to be 5 months next week, because she was a month early, it's not surprising that she follows the 4 month developments. Basically, because she is now more aware of things going on around her and her brain is really starting to develop, why would she want to miss out and go to sleep? Can't say that I blame her! So we decided to combat the nighttime problem first since the regression is a phase and she might go back to her afternoon naps. So last night we decided to follow the advice of the Baby Whisperer, who was very helpful earlier. We gave Sienna her nighttime bottle out in the living room and a little before her bedtime. She finished her whole bottle and then I took her into her room and read her a couple of books. She yawned and rubbed her eyes, ooh, signs of tiredness! I put her down in her crib and walked out. She cried. I went back in, picked her up and soothed her and when she stopped crying, put her down. She cried again. I picked her up and soothed her and put her down when she stopped. This went back and forth for about 45 minutes although I thought I had it in the bag twice and had walked out only to have her cry again. Eventually, she went down and didn't cry and fell asleep. Whew! Not too bad for the first night. Tonight shouldn't take as long as last night, according to the Baby Whisperer. We'll see. I didn't feel bad as I didn't let her cry it out and I was confident I was doing the right thing for all of us.

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Posted by luluvision at 12:37 PM | Comments (0)

August 03, 2007

Aaaah Spaaaa

Yesterday I went to get my Swedish massage that Yves got me for my birthday. I went to Ohm spa in midtown. HEAVEN! It's been awhile since I've gotten a massage, a true spa massage and I really wish it could have lasted all afternoon! The atmosphere was so nice and relaxing and calming. They gave you a nice robe and really nice slippers, hard plastic types. I swear, when I came out of the spa onto the street, if someone would have mugged me, I would have given them everything I had, I was so relaxed. It's too bad I picked one of the hottest, muggiest, yuckiest days of the year! I think next time I get a massage in the summer, I'll hire a limo to take me home. HA!

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After massage feet

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After massage me

This past Sunday, we also went to visit Tammy and Mark and had yummy burgers. While she drooled over Sienna, me and Yves drooled over her iphone and new 46 inch HDTV!!

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Posted by luluvision at 01:45 PM | Comments (1)