Auntie Cynthia!!

Saturday, February 18th, was a special day for baby Jane- it was the day that she finally got to meet her Auntie Cynthia!! We even had Jane dressed up in the special outfit that Cynthie gave to her- Jane styling with her stylish Auntie
We were happy that Cynth was able to have some one on one time with Jane. We went to Costco and Jane was so comfortable that she completely passed out in her Auntie's arms
And later on, they were able to have a two hour nap together. So peaceful :-)
Auntie Cynthia's visit was too short :-( given her busy schedule but Jane enjoyed every minute of her time and you can be sure that we will be planning a Disneyland trip soon!!

Happy Valentines from the Elf Princess!

Jane's Grampy now refers to her as the Elf Princess and here she is with special smiles.

Our Little Valentine on Valentine's Day

For Valentine's, William took us out to lunch on Saturday at BJ's for some mac n cheese, great white deep dish pizza, and red velvet pizzookie to beat the crowds. Jane fortunately was GREAT.

William bought me another beautiful orchid, some earrings and then got me my favorite Cold Stone cake batter with cookie dough.
We then had pizza and crazy bread for dinner so that we wouldn't have to wait and it was super delicious (we have a very high quality Little Caesars right by us). This was fine because we went out to a fancy special dinner at the end of January for San Francisco restaurant week to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. I have been wanting to try this place forever as I have heard rave reviews from so many (particularly Maren). We got a 3 course meal for $35 each and while the salad, side, and dessert were good, the steak was the true winner. I now understand why people crave steak because this was unbelievable. Mine was the PERFECT amount of doneness- I like mine medium well with hardly any pink and getting it butterflied achieved this while leaving the meat still juicy and tender. They place butter on top of it along with salt and pepper and you realize that steak sauce is only used to cover up sub par meat. For days following this meal, both William and I raved about how good these steaks are and that if we ever go back, we will splurge on the bigger steaks only (or just go to another restaurant week!) Many thanks to my sister Sarah for babysitting for us.

Back to Work

Well, 3 months of maternity leave passed by more quickly than I imagined, though the 1st 6 weeks went at a slower pace. That 3 months means that my maternity leave it over. I initially cried over the thought of having to leave Jane and go back to work full time, but fortunately, my boss has been super accommodating and has let me come back part time. In May, I will have been at PAMF doing research for 2 years and I have been the one consistent person on a study during that time, as well as one of the primary qualitative researchers, and so I really feel like I need to see the analysis process out completely. We are now at the paper writing stage for the mental health study and beginning data analysis for the patient centered medical home study.

I admit that I was a bit teary when I left Jane this morning but I did not shed any tears and was able to make it through the 4 hours. My work email inbox has been dealt with, my desk organized (it was a disaster since I just had to leave so quickly to give birth), and I am back to writing about what happens when a patient cries during a primary care visit. I am the lead author on this paper and I have been working on it for months and so I am hoping to finish it up within the next few weeks. It was nice to see my coworkers again and get some work done- the office is SUPER quiet- even more so than a library. I am planning on working just half days, but I still need to work out the details with my boss (she was at a meeting all day).

While I was super excited to see Jane and teared up at being "reunited" with her, I think that she did not miss me very much. I truly feel SO BLESSED that we have an AMAZING family taking care of her. They have a 4 year old girl and two year old boy and the kids are just the sweetest, and I know it is because their mom is the same way. Jane was fascinated by the kids- sometimes she couldn't decide which ones to watch- and she was apparently pretty good (she was asleep when I arrived), though she did have some fussy moments, which sounds like how she is most of the day with me. Jane really loves being around people and doesn't want to miss out on any of the action (that's how she was when family was in town) so she had so much fun that she has been asleep since we got home.

I really feel so lucky to be able to have OPTIONS regarding my going back to work. I know that some women are not so lucky and have to work full time or want to do part time but don't have a flexible employer. William has been super supportive of me with whatever decision I made- I thank him so much for being a good provider so that I do not have to work full time.

So, we survived day 1 of my being back to work. I think that working a 4 hour stretch is just perfect- enough for me to get work done and have mental concentration but not get burned out :-) Here's hoping that the following days work out even better for everyone!

"She Survived"

We decided to have Jane's baby blessing on the Sunday of President's Day weekend so that way people could stay later since Monday was a holiday (and as chance would have it, William's birthday).

We were so touched to have my parents, both my sisters- Sarah and Cynthia, and William's parents here with us. We missed having Bekky, Corey, and Tyler as well as Chris and Karen and kids but we know that they were there in spirit.

Before the blessing, William and I were both nervous about how Jane would act. She does not like to sit still at all (unless she is looking at lights- like Glo worm or a TV) and even that is only for a few minutes- she really likes to be held looking out at the world and walked around. We got to church early and had a good seat and Jane was ok for a few minutes but then she was starting to melt down. I told William to go and stand at the back and then come forward when it was time and of course as he does this, the bishop says it is time for the blessing.

In his head, William told me that he was thinking "abort, abort mission" but we obviously couldn't do that so he just went forward with it. Jane was ok for the naming portion but the cried through the rest of the blessing. Our worst fears had come true. I was so proud of William for maintaining his composure and giving her a blessing although she cried the whole time. It was short, but beautiful and included a blessing of help for her parents, which we need.

The funny thing is is that the second they were done and William started moving and turned her around to face the crowd, she immediately stops crying and smiles because she knew she was done. The same thing happened on Friday morning when I had to take her for a hearing test (SIDE STORY- she passed her first one but being a NICU baby, Kaiser does followups for the first 3 years. She was supposed to be asleep and she was but of course, as soon as the car stops, she wakes up. Fortunately, it was ok for her to be awake but she had to hold still. One hour later we were FINALLY done as she passed the test again only after crying and squirming for most of that time. Literally, the second the test is over, she is completely fine and smiling- no evidence of turmoil. That girl DEFINITELY knows what's going on and what she likes/does not like).

Following the blessing, our bishop got up and said "she survived" into the microphone :-). Her parents just barely survived as well :-) My sister Sarah then leaned over to me and said that it was so rude that someone did not take their screaming child out while the blessing was going on and I replied that it was my daughter :-) So at least Jane's cries were not loud enough to completely overwhelm William's words.

Jane looked "stunning" (according to Grampy) in her blessing dress which Nana picked out for her, her flower headband, and the special bracelet that my friend April made for her. The white blanket is particularly special as it was made by my Grandmother Child before she passed away a few years ago- my mom was kind enough to piece it together for her. She really did look like a little princess- or an "Elf Princess" according to Grampy :-)

This is my favorite photo of her- what a little angel!

Her famous open mouth smile

It really meant the world to me that I have the most incredible husband who was able to do this for our daughter. Isn't he so handsome- I still can't believe that he chose me to be with him forever. I'm such a lucky woman.

Me with my baby girl
Our first family photos :-)
With Grandma and Grandpa Kunz
The Stults Family
Being held by Nana
She already has Grampy wrapped around her little finger
Finally getting some Auntie Cynthia time!!!
Auntie Sarah

It really was a special day for us and we are so grateful to all of those who traveled to be with us and for those who wanted to be there but couldn't.

The Many Faces of Jane

While Miss Jane has been smiling, she also has made some other interesting faces. The following is her "ooh" face

The inquisitive face

The "what are you doing Mom" face
The "aaahhh"- "what happened" face
The "you've got to be kidding me Mom" smirk (I'm sure I will definitely be seeing more of this one later on)
Hmm- what faces will she make next???

Smiley Baby

Jane smiled for the first time over a month ago and it took awhile, but she now smiles a good portion of the day.
We absolutely LOVE this because it finally provides us with some feedback that she likes something.
My personal favorite is her open mouth smile

and this is a priceless moment capturing both her and her daddy doing open mouth smiles :-)
Still waiting for the big belly laugh . . .

Swaddle Time

We did not swaddle Jane for the first few weeks after she was born because she would cry every time we did it so we figured that she really just did not like it. Google sent us a care package of a $500 gift card for take-out/diapers/house cleaning, what to expect during the first year book, and the Happiest Baby on the Block DVD. What a life changing gift

If I would have read his book, I would have said that swaddling is fine for many kids, but that my kid is one of the exceptions who dislike it and I would not have tried it. But, the DVD showed me that he is a baby whisperer and that while the babies initially cried when first swaddled, they eventually calmed down when paired with swaying or sucking of a pacifier. As he did this with 10 babies, I figured that we at least needed to give it another try- and IT WORKED! This was the first time after watching the movie that we tried it and it was amazing to see the evolution of her falling asleep.

At first, eying us warily

Eyes are getting sleepy
Eyes fully closed
Completely passed out

Our being able to swaddle her was life changing for me because before this time, I had to hold her in order for her to sleep for 2-3 hours, which meant that I was sleeping on the couch and not getting quality sleep.

She has been sleeping much better with her Swaddle Me and is now up to 4-5 hours a night at her longest stretch. She still cries and fiercely struggles to not have her arms straight jacketed but she does calm down just after having it. She even somewhat has a smile in the following photo
Our little baby burrito or her "straight jacket" as called by daddy. We also think that she kind of looks like her Glo worm.
When she starts getting super fussy at night, it means that she- and her parents- are ready for swaddle time and we are thrilled it works!!