Salt & Pepper: Makenzie

Showing posts with label Makenzie. Show all posts

Friday, April 25, 2014

Maknezie at Four Months

Four months old and four months cute. That's Makenzie. It was a big month for her with many new experiences. We took an 8 hour road trip up to Vacaville to check out apartments. She didn't even cry once! We also flew up to Utah and then drove to Wyoming to attend my Grandma's funeral. It was the first time she met most of her aunts, uncles, and cousins. No matter who was holding her, she seemed perfectly content. I wasn't sure how well she would do, but with each new adventure, Luis and I kept finding ourselves saying, "She's such a champ!"

She is now 14 lbs 25 in. and her hair is 2 inches long up top.
She is a big time thumb-sucker and will even try fitting them both in at once when life is particularly hard.
She likes to remind us when we've let her fend for herself on the floor for too long by squealing (not crying or screaming...squealing) as loudly as she can.
Makenzie loves watching us (especially Raquel) and cranes her neck all the way back if we're behind her. This usually causes her to spit up all over her face.
She has already been on 4 airplanes! She was lulled to sleep on every single one, which made for a relaxing fly - other than the runway following us the whole way. Ask my mom...she knows how confusing THAT can be.
Makenzie has learned how to reach for, grasp, and hold objects. They ~~usually~~ always end up in her mouth.
She's terrified of the vacuum.

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Makenzie's Laugh

Makenzie at Three Months

We've arrived at the three month stage!

12.1 lbs and 23 1/2 inches, which is right about average for babies her age.
She jabbers mostly at night when she's getting tired.
Has rolled over from her tummy to her back a few more times, like she's doing in the picture above.
She's been sleeping 8 hour stretches nearly every night for the past month.
She smiles and laughs when I sing to her. Raquel asks to listen to the Frozen soundtrack every day, and now Makenzie recognizes the songs.
She loves the crinkle sound of the paper that covers the beds in the doctor's office. She goes wild whenever they place her on it.
She also goes wild in the bathtub. She kicks and waves her arms to make big splashes.
She continues to be a really happy baby and rewards us with big smiles whenever we pick her up or talk to her.

It has been fun to watch Makenzie and Raquel interact. Raquel likes to put in Makenzie's binkie, turn on her swing, and give her a blanket when she's sad. Makenzie likes to watch Raquel and be near her.

Monday, March 10, 2014

Regal Baby

The weekend of Makenzie's blessing, we had 3 visitors. Of course, we would've loved to see ALL our family, but we're just not that loved. Just kidding, we're actually the favorites, but most of the family, understandably, couldn't make it. We had to settle on Mom, Dad, and Dave. What's that saying? Something about beggars and choosers? Anyways, they arrived Saturday afternoon, and once I forced certain visitors (Dave) to put my child down and wash their hands (can anyone say nasty, germy, airplane hands???), we made the introductions.

We've enjoyed the pleasure of Dave's company on several occassions now, but I think he found the entertainment and sleeping accommodations to be much better this trip.

Saturday night, we treated our guests to their first ever skookie experience. Skookies are swiftly becoming my dessert of choice these days.

On Sunday morning, we had a few hours to get ready before 11:00 church. I thought Raquel would be excited to wear a fancy dress, like Makenzie. I thought wrong. (Sort of like that time I thought she would enjoy Christmas.) As I put the dress on her, she kept crying for daddy and saying "No, no, no!" I forced her to wear it anyways, and she eventually forgot about it. Makenzie didn't mind her dress. She was born to be regal. On a side note, I think I was subconsciously influenced by the latest season of Downton Abby when I created Makenzie's headband because it looks very 1920's to me.

As Raquel would say, "Mommy, Daddy, 'Quel', 'Kenzie'. Happy Family." And we are.

Thursday, February 27, 2014

Makenzie at Two Months

It's official. Newborn status has worn off and now Makenzie carries the title of "grown-up baby." Whatever her title, she is my little doll. (Thanks Aunt Charisse for the bow!)

What Makenzie is up to these days:

First and foremost, she slept through the night this month. In fact, she usually sleeps 6-7 hour stretches every night now. It is glorious!
She burps a lot better, which means less spit-up.
She smiles every day, especially when you play with her.
She loves her binkie and it always calms her down.
Sleep comes best when she's swaddled in her special swaddle blanket.
She's got a great "one eyebrow up, one eyebrow down" face.
She is getting quite roly poly.
She's discovered her hands and fingers, and likes to suck on them.

Makenzie at One Month

Babies grow so fast! My little newborn is slipping away! Here is her progress by week by week.

1 week

2 weeks

3 weeks

1 Month

Did you notice an extra little person in those pictures? Every time I pull out the camera, Raquel thinks we're having a family photo shoot.

What Makenzie has been like this month:

Sleeps most of the time, especially in human arms
Eats a little too well - she eats so fast, she gets too much and then spits it all up
Not a "burpie" baby
Loves bathtime and rarely cries
She likes the vibrator setting on her swing
Has begun to smile at Daddy
Wakes 2-3 times a night

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Makenzie Makenzie Makenzie!

When Makenzie was 1 1/2 weeks old, we had our good friend, Jen, take her newborn pictures. In my opinion, they are absolutely adorable, but I'll let you see for yourself. (By the way, you definitely don't want to miss the last one.)

(Look how strong she is at 2 1/2 weeks!!! She takes after her mother, in case you're wondering.)

Seriously, isn't that last one a scream? I love love LOVE this little critter:) I know there's no way to tell what a little baby will be like in the future, but when I hold her, I can't help but feel like she's going to be a really sweet and kind girl. We all just adore her!

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Makenzie Moreno

Well it happened. Baby Makenzie Moreno has arrived! Her due date was always December 22nd, and that's the day she came. And I must say, it was impeccable timing. Luis was out of town a few weeks before, so I was glad she didn't come then. My mom didn't get here until the 15th, so I was glad she didn't come before that either. Luis's parents didn't come until the 17th, so once again, I was glad she waited until she did so that everyone could be here for her debut.

Here are the basics of her story. I had been feeling pretty good (as good as you can feel being 9 months pregnant) all week long. And then came Saturday and my body hit a wall. I felt drained of all my energy. It was the day we were making our "Christmas Tamales," so I was very glad to have a lot of experts here to help out. That night, I began feeling contractions and finally went to the hospital around 3:00 Sunday morning. It was such a blessing having my Mom and Luis's parents here to watch Raquel for us while we were gone. They were wonderful with her!

Once we arrived at the hospital, I learned I was dilated to a 5, so they immediately started searching for a room for me. While we were waiting, I heard them telling the pregnant woman a few curtains over, that since she was already dilated to a 7, it was unlikely she would get an epidural in time. I didn't think too much of it at the time, but after waiting an hour for a room and a few more hours IN my room, I began thinking I might end up in the same boat as her. Finally, the anesthesiologist took pity on me and ran up to give me an epidural in between C-sections (apparently there were an unusual amount of C-sections that night). Like I've said before, epidurals are pure gold.

After that, I pretty much hung around looking gorgeous until they told me I was at a 10 and the baby was ready to come. Dr. Dhaliwal (my doctor's partner) came in, broke my water, and we commenced pushing at 9:50 am. At 9:52, Makenzie arrived! That's right, I had a 2 minute labor. It was glorious. Makenzie is already on my good side:)

Right out of the shoot, Makenzie was looking for her first meal, so they tossed her over to me and had me start feeding her before they even took her weight. Thankfully, she was one of those pro eaters who knew how to eat from the get-go. When they finally measured her, she was 8 lbs 1 oz and 19 3/4 inches. The nurse kept chuckling because her belly ended up with a bigger circumference than her head. The sweetest moment was when she stopped crying and started cuddling with me the moment they handed her to me. She knew her Mommy!

It was such a beautiful moment to be able to hold her and look at her, knowing where she had just come from. It was very spiritual. It was very different from Raquel's birth, since Raquel was whisked away to the NICU right away and I was left all by my lonesome wondering if she would live.

My delivery nurse, Patricia, kept saying we should be the poster family for birthing experiences. There were no complications, the labor was fast, and our baby was amazingly calm from the start. It was a perfect labor and delivery, according to her. Below is a picture of me with my nurse. She was a sweetheart!