margaretyagan

My Wednesday started when I woke up for a snack around 2:00 am.  Mom heard my whimpers and got Dad up to give me my bottle.  I got up again at 5:30 and ate a little, slept a little, ate a little, slept a little, and eventually took about an hour to finish eating.  Then I got to witness something really strange — Mom pumped milk into a bottle!  I was always wondering how those bottles got full every night, but I had never thought it actually came from Mom.  I felt kind of jealous, but I was too full to eat any more.

I took a nap while Mom ate breakfast and showered.  I had breakfast at 8:00 and then we both took much needed naps frmo 8:45 until 10:15, when I woke up to eat.  After my snack I was really alert and Mom and I had really good awake time.  I hung out in my swing, did tummy-time, and sat in my bouncy chair.  It was a lot of fun to play around with Mom.

I took a nap before my 2:00 snack and then we got dressed to go out.  Strangely, I learned about a new piece of clothing today — the shoe.  I had never before worn anything on my feet other than socks, but Mom dressed me in these cool new sneakers that I got from Great Aunt and Uncle Joanne and Mark.  I got in my stroller expecting to go to the park, as usual, but instead we ran errands relating to Dad’s upcoming birthday.

We got back just in time for me to eat at around 4:30 and then again at 6:00.  I did more tummy-time and hung out on my activity mat, which I’m definitely starting to like a lot more.  I ate again (no wonder I am gaining weight!) at 8:00.  Then, I got REALLY fussy.  Maybe it’s because Dad hadn’t shown up yet (little did I know this would be Dad’s first night away from me!) or maybe it’s just because I was too tired and overstimulated.  For about an hour, I cried off and on — stopping when Mom got me calm and then starting up again as soon as she put me down.

Finally, at 9:45 I pretty much ran out of energy.  I was pooped.  And that’s how my Wednesday ended.

Right after Dad’s and my third trip dow to the lobby in the elevator, I decided I was really hungry and that it was time to eat.  Mom and Dad had planned that Mom would do the next feeding, but when Dad brought me in to the bedroom, Mom pointed out that it might make more sense for Dad to do this feeding with the bottle and for Mom to do the next one.  Good idea, Mom!  So she went back to sleep and Dad went to the kitchen to prepare my bottle.

I have to say that Dad’s first two attempts at bottle-feeding were okay, but not oustanding.  After my triple-spit-up performance the night before, Dad decided (at Mom’s suggestion) to demote me back to the slow-flow newborn nipple.  That worked much better and although it took me a lot longer to finish the bottle, I handled it much better.  Also Dad has gotten a lot more comfortable burping me now that my neck is getting strong enough to hold up against his shoulder.  He held me upright for about 20 minutes after I finished eating and I got all the air out.

I got a really good stretch of sleep in from about 1:15 to 4:15.  And because Dad did the feeding before that, Mom actually got some sleep, too.  I woke up and ate with Mom at 4:15 and then slept well again until 8:15.  This was definitely the best I have slept since moving to New York.

I slept a little while Mom put together the replacement swing that arrived in the mail yesterday.  It’s way, way less cool than the swing I loved back home.  I got hungry again around 10 and had my mid-morning snack.  I was really wide awake and well-rested, so I had tummy-time with Mom on my activity mat.  I followed objects with my eyes really well and I turned my head from right to left with only a little bit of crying.  At 1pm I ate lunch then I was in a bad mood for a while until I finally fell asleep around 2:30.   Mom took a nap with me for about an hour until I ate again at 3:45pm.  When I took another little nap on the couch around 5:30, mom finally got around to eating lunch.   

Dad got home early today, around 6:00.  I was napping but he really wasn’t feeling well at all tonight; luckily, Mom was relatively well-rested and stepped up and took over.  I ate at 6:30 and again at 7:45 and 9:45.  I got really, really fussy until Dad took me down to the lobby, but I started screaming again as soon as I got back to the apartment.

I woke up just after the stroke of midnight, ready to eat.  As is becoming the usual, Dad woke up to do the first feeding of the night (only after Mom heard me and woke him up).  Wow, I think yesterday’s promotion to the faster nipple might have been a big mistake.  I drank the whole four ounce bottle in a matter of minutes.  Then Dad tried to get me to fall back asleep, but every time I came close to dozing off I spit up part of my meal.  Get drowsy, spit up.  Get drowsy, spit up.  Dad seemed to get a bit frustrated, but hey, that’s what he gets for rushing the feeding!

Finally I fell back asleep just before 1:00.  At about 3:00 am, I started making strange noises.  Mom got up to check on me and was shocked to see that I had rolled over on to my stomach.  (No, I’m not a super-baby; Dad’s swaddle was quite cylindrical and my bassinet has a slight dip in the middle.)  Mom put me “back to sleep” and I slept until 4:45.  This was the first night I slept more than 4 hours in a row since our move to NYC.  Too bad Mom didn’t get to sleep through it.

I wasn’t in the mood to go back to sleep and I kept Mom for a while and then ate breakfast at 6:45 and had some good awake time until 8:15, when I snacked again.  I fell asleep after eating but not for long enough for Mom to take a shower or anything.  I heard her telling Dad on the phone that she was going to take a nap, so I promptly got back up.  After eating at 10:15, I hung out in my bassinet while Mom showered.  She got dressed and then got me dressed and we headed out to see the doctor.

My new doctor’s office is located about 20 blocks north of our apartment and Mom decided to walk in the near freezing wind chill rather than take a cab or the germ-infested subway.  Dad met us there and had already checked us in by the time we arrived.  We sat in the waiting room with lots of other little people like me.  Finally a nurse called us in to exam room #6.  And let the adventure begin.

So the nurse asked to have me undressed and placed on the scale.  Does this happen to every other baby?  You all know what’s about to happen, right?  Dad undressed me and put me on the scale and about two seconds later, I peed.  All over the scale and all over myself.  Is this really a surprise to anyone?  As Mom rushed to get some paper towels Dad rescued me from my rapidly growing pee-pond.  He lifted me up to carry me over to the exam table and … you guessed it:  I pooped in mid-air.  I don’t know much warfare, but if you ever wanted to see the reenactment of a carpet bombing, you just needed to see me.  And it wasn’t just the floor I pooped on…I pooped all over the car sear, too.   Does Purell work to sanitize pooped-on fabric?  Dad sure seemed to think so.

Once sanity was restored, I was placed back on the scale.  I gained a full inch in height taking me up to 21.5″.  Then the nurse weighed me.  “8 pounds, 11 ounces,” she said.  You should have seen the look on Mom’s and Dad’s faces.  Their jaws dropped and they turned to each other.  Mom said, “Is that possible?  You mean 7 pounds, 11 ounces, right?”  Oh, no, I gained a full pound and a half in two weeks.  And my head just keeps getting bigger, too.

 So, two weeks ago I was 25th, 50th, and 75th percentiles in weight, height, and head circumference.  Today I was 41%, 73%, and 77%.  No wonder I’ve been so hungry the last week — it really was a growth spurt!

I really like Dr. Gati a lot.  She came in and spent a really long time examining me and talking to Mom and Dad.  She wanted to give me my second Hepatitis B shot, but Mom and Dad (at Nana Yagan’s advice) resisted, much to my happiness.  So, I didn’t get a shot at this checkup.

 Mom & Dad were on cloud nine.  I don’t think I’ve seen them this outwardly happy since we left the hospital.  They practically skipped down Central Park West.  Dad hopped on the subway at 72nd Street and Mom and I went to Bed, Bath, and Beyond. 

I ate at 2:00 and then took a nap while Mom ate lunch.  My 4:00 meal dragged into my 4:45 snack.  At 5:30, Mom’s and Dad’s friends Ali and Ryan came by.  Aunt Ali was so great and cuddly — she held me for over an hour.  Uncle Ryan is awesome, too.  He looks half like a grizzly bear and half like a captain lost at sea.  They brought me three books.  Maybe someday I’ll be able to read them!

Dad got home around 7:00 and moments later dinner arrived.  Aunt Ali & Uncle Ryan left just after 7:30 and I got my dinner just after they left.

At 9:00 Aunt Sara came and she was so excited to see me!  Then Uncle Marty came by and I hung out with both of them until I got hungry, around 10.  They brought me really cool stuff from Peru!  You can see the sweater in the picture.  Not sure if that’s a llama, camel, alpaca, or something else.  I also got a cool pair of slippers and a finger puppet.

Mom slept around 11:00 and Dad tried to keep me quiet but awake for a while until my next feeding.  Dad learned a new trick — he took me for three elevator rides in less than two hours.  Each time we got in the elevator, I fell asleep instantly.  We picked up the mail, got a package, and took a few laps around the lobby.

After about three hours of sleep, I woke up around 12:45 am, looking for a snack.  For the second night in a row Dad got up and fed me a bottle.  Drinking from a bottle is so much easier than drinking from Mom.  I even graduated from the newborn nipple to the one-month old nipple.  It’s so easy to drink that I could do it in my sleep — literally!  I drank almost a full four ounces and then I went right back to bed.  I couldn’t really get comfortable and Mom woke up around 2:00 to see if I wanted to eat, which I didn’t.  She kept getting up to try different things to get me to fall back asleep, but nothing really worked.  Finally at 3:45 or so, I was hungry enough to eat.  It took Mom about half an hour to get me to fall back to sleep, which I did for about an hour until I got hungry again, at 5:45.  I half-slept until about 7:00 when I started fussing again.  Mom had had enough and woke up Dad to take care of me.

Dad used his magic tricks and I fell asleep in a matter of minutes and I stayed asleep until about 9:15.  It helped that Dad let me sleep on the couch instead of putting me back in my bassinet.  Luckily, Mom got a couple hours of good sleep in.  When I woke up at 9:15, Dad gave me a bath in this wacky bath sling.  Not really sure what I think of that.  But I got clean and I didn’t pee or poo on anything, so I think that was a win all around.  Dad wrapped me up in a towel and brought me to mom to eat at around 9:30.  I was clean and full, so I went right back to sleep until around 12:15.  I think Mom and Dad wish my long stretches of sleep would be at night, like they were back in Chicago.

The rest of the afternoon was uneventful.  I ate and slept and ate and slept.  One highlight, if you can call it that, was when Dad carried me to the laundry room to get my clothes out of the dryer.  Woo!  I got some tummy-time in and came shockingly close to supporting my head with my own neck (Conor, you are my inspiration!).

At 5:00 Mom went to take a much-needed nap and Dad desperately tried to keep me amused (read: quiet).  He carried me around for about an hour.  We started out just doing laps in the apartment.  Then we did some work in the kitchen together.  Then we went downstairs to pick up the key to the mailbox and pick up a package.  I was impressed at how much Dad could do one-handed.  Finally, he pulled out the rainforest bouncer that had been sitting off to the side for weeks.  When we tried to use it before, my head just flopped over.  This time, though, it was perfect.  Not only does the seat bounce, but it vibrates!

I had dinner at 7:00 and sat in my bouncer next to Mom & Dad while they had dinner.  Then I watched the semi-finals of the womens NCAA basketball tournament — Stanford beat UConn!  I am now officially a huge Cardinal fan…maybe I’ll be playing in Maples Pavilion in 2026.  Mom’s already a member of the Brickyard Club, so I know she’d be at all my games.  Do you think they make onesies with Candice Wiggins‘ number on the back?  

I had supper at 9:30 and we all turned in for the night.

So, I’m going to shift my blog posts to cover real calendar days rather than my self-centered breakfast-to-breakfast days I’ve been writing up.  Who knew anything about calendars?

I never really got into a deep sleep after Dad put me in my bassinet.  At about 3:00, Mom noticed that I sounded congested and that I wasn’t breathing very comfortably.  So, she got up and used a nasal aspirator to “suck the snot of [my] nose” as she described it to me.   Since we were both up, Mom went ahead and fed me.  We finished up around 4:00 am.

Now that I could breathe I fell asleep really quickly and didn’t get up until about 6:30, when I got up for breakfast.  I couldn’t really get into a deep sleep, and I huffed and puffed until about 9:00, when I ate again.

Mom’s and Dad’s big goal for today was to get unpacked and settled in.  I was in a really good mood all morning and I hung out with Mom & Dad while they worked around the house.  I ate lunch at 12:00 and then took a little siesta until about 2:15.  I woke up from my nap to see Mom’s and Dad’s friend Isabelle.  I ate and then the four of us (Mom, Dad, Aunt Isabelle, and I) went out for a walk in Central Park.  On the way, we stopped at a cafe; Mom & Dad got sandwiches for lunch while Aunt Isabelle got a capuccino.

Next stop was the Park.  Dad kept letting my stroller roll ahead of him downhill while Mom would freak out that I was going to “roll off the sidewalk, hit the hotdog stand, flip over, and land on my head.”  Now, I don’t know much about probability or combinatorics or anything, but I gotta think Mom’s a bit paranoid.

The four of us hung out — well, they all hung out while I slept.  Then we headed back to our apartment.  When we got home, I ate with Mom and then, much to my surprise, we headed right back into the stroller and right back out the door!  This time we took a short walk to the Time Warner Center which is just a few blocks south of us and took the elevator down to Whole Foods.  Wow, this place was insane.  I couldn’t see much, though.

Mom was convinced that it was a threat to my health, safety, and security to go to “a place full of germs.”  So, Mom & Dad kept my stroller covered — think of it as Regan’s “star wars” plan, except for germs.  I’m glad to report that I made it out ok.  As soon as they finished shopping Dad stood in line (he was about 55th) to checkout and Mom whisked me out of harm’s way and we headed back home.

After being over-stimulated all day, I think I was justified in being pretty fussy.  I ate at 8:00 and 9:30. but was pretty cranky in between.  Mom & Dad were exhausted and we all turned in for the night around 10:00.

I had breakfast at 6:30 and then fussed for a little bit before going back to sleep.  I love being in charge of my own feeding schedule these days.  I get to eat when I want to eat and sleep when I want to sleep.  It was such a cold, gloomy day in NYC; I knew from the moment I got up that I wasn’t going to be leaving the apartment.  Anyway, I got a few hours of sleep and got up again at 10:00.

Then I had an extended feeding at 10:00 (this means that I pretended to be done; we got up; Mom changed my diaper; and then I ate again).  I didn’t finish eating until a little after 11:00. 

Having just taken a long nap and had a very filling meal, I was ready to play.  So, I hung out with Mom, did some tummy-time, and watched her as she started putting together my new swing.   I haven’t been turning my head quite as much I could be, but I’ve started focusing on and tracking objects with my eyes.  So now Mom and Dad are constantly putting random animals in front of me and moving them from side to side.

I had lunch at 1:00 and then took a pretty lengthy nap.  Mom cleaned up the kitchen, washed dishes, organized the cabinets, and kept unpacking.  I can’t believe she didn’t just take a nap!  Also, she put the food she usually gives me in a bottle and stuck it in the fridge.  I was so jealous!

I woke up at 4:30 and had dinner.  There was a little less food available than I would have liked so I ate again at 5:45.  The coincidence of my growth spurt and Mom stashing food in a bottle meant that I was hungry throughout most of the evening.  I ate again at 7:00 and then again 7:45.  Dad came home just before 7:00 with his arms full of goodies, mostly for him and Mom.  Did you forget about me, Dad?

Dad tried to finish assembling the swing (which Mom had assembled backward), but at the very end he discovered that it was missing a critical piece that held the seat up in the air.  Oops.  Thanks, Fisher-Price!

I snacked a couple more times, and then after my 10:00 pm feeding, Mom went to sleep and Dad stayed up with me in the living room.  I was a bit fussy, so Dad carried me around as he did laundry, straightened up the room a bit, and had a snack of his own (he seems to REALLY like hummus).  Then I slept while he did some work and watched Countdown.

Then, the weirdest thing happened.  I woke up around 2:00 am, totally starving.  I had eaten a bunch of little snacks all evening and then slept for four hours, so I needed some quality time with Mom!  Or at least so I thought.  Dad picked me up, sat on the couch, set up the boppy, and then — fed me a bottle full of Mom’s milk!  Whoa!  Drinking out of a bottle was so easy and so fun.  And Dad seemed so, so, so happy to be nourishing me and helping Mom get more sleep.

I got up for breakfast at 8:30.  Well, I tried getting up for breakfast at 8:00, but Mom tricked me into an extra half-hour of sleep (again) by cuddling with me in her bed.  After breakfast, we had another stream of repairmen into our apartment — at one point we had four men trying to fix the leaky gas stove.  In the process of replacing the valve, they were going to have to flood our apartment with gas.  One guy proposed that Mom and I hang out in the bedroom.  Mom thought it made a lot more sense to leave and hang out in the lobby.

I officially outgrew my first piece of clothing today!  My tummy has gotten so huge that it just flops right out.

I had an early lunch at about 11:00 and then I took a little nap.  Dad stopped by again to yell at our landlord again.  While Dad was dealing with that, Mom showered for the first time since getting to New York.  Dad played with me for a couple minutes and then he headed back to work.

I had a little snack around 1:00 before getting my sixth bath.  Mom had a new little device for me since my bathtub didn’t make the trip out to New York.  I really enjoyed this bath and didn’t cry at all until I got cold when Mom took me out.  Mom was especially thorough, making sure to really scour my armpits which had collected a fair amount of spitup over the last few days.  (I know, that’s gross.)

Mom dressed me up in a really girly-girl outfit.  Not sure what’s gotten in to her — maybe she’s already going stir-crazy hanging out in this little apartment with me!  Mom strapped me in to my stroller and we went for a walk in Central Park.  There were lots of kids out and the flowers were starting to bloom.  Mom took lots of pictures.  Then she ran into an old couple; the old man lectured Mom about letting me out of the house at such a young age.  Luckily his wife said “Honey, this is a new generation.”  Right she is.

I had a little snack and then took a short nap with Mom.  After another meal, tried to get me do tummy-time, which I turned into nap time.  Dad came home and then I had dinner around 7:00.  Mom & Dad had dinner (pizza, again, yum) and then the stole a two hour catnap beween 8:45 and 10:45.  I heard them debate whether it was worth moving from the floor to my bed, taking into account the risk of waking m up.  (They moved me and I didn’t wake up.)

I ate at 10:45, 12:45, & 3:30.  Mom, of course, got up with me each time.  The first two times I fell back asleep relatively easily, but I never really got into a deep slumber.  After my 3:30 snack, though, I kept fussing instead of falling asleep.  Mom finally woke Dad up and asked him to take care of me for a while, which he did.  Once he got me to sleep, he laid in bed half-awake making sure that Mom wouldn’t get up when I tossed and sighed.  I got up for breakfast just after Dad left for work, at about 6:30.

Wednesday was one of the most chaotic days of my life, making yesterday’s cross-country move seem like a walk in the park.  First of all, I was starving all day; it seemed like I was eating almost every hour.  I woke up for breakfast at 6:45 and noticed that Dad had already left for work.  Mom fed me and then I napped until 9:15, when I had my second breakfast of the morning.  Actually, I started to stir at abour 8:15 when Mom lifted me out of my bassinet and into bed with her.  She’s so cozy that we both got an extra hour of sleep.

Just about as soon as I finished eating at 9:15 I got hungry again and had a mid-morning snack at 10:15.  I am not sure Mom was ready for such an aggressive schedule on her first day home alone with me.  To make matters worse, I couldn’t really fall asleep so Mom walked around with me for a couple hours — she made me feel so much better.  She tried to sneak in a bowl of cereal of her own, but I needed her undivided attention.

I had lunch at 12:15 followed by dessert at 1:15.  Hey, it’s my three-week-old growth spurt!  Dad surprised us by stopping by, which was especially good for Mom because he took care of me while she ate left-over fried rice.  I couldn’t tell exactly what they were talking about, but they seemed pretty stressed.  They kept talking about “moving out” — but we just moved in!  I was confused.

Dad left to go back to work and then a stream of repair people came in and out of the apartment.  A plumber came in to fix the shower (it didn’t drain) and to try to fix the leaky toilet (he needed a part).  Then Carlos came in to fix one of the electrical outlets, the gas leaking out of the stove, the headboard that wasn’t even attached to Mom’s and Dad’s bed, and the towel rack that someone else had ripped off the wall.  I hadn’t realized just how many things were broken in our new home.  Then someone named Kelseng came in with plates, flatware, pots, and pans — much needed supplies, for sure.

Then Mom & I left the apartment to go for a walk.  When we got to the lobby I got to meet Uncle Marty!  Unlike many of our previous walks, this one seemed to have a mission.  Uncle Marty, in particular, gave himself two responsibilities: (1) to make sure I was breathing and (2) to protect me from “rogue vehicles.”  He argued that since the stroller crosses a street in front of Mom and since he claimed I didn’t have peripheral vision (whatever that means!), he needed to jut out in front of the stroller to ward off any oncoming vehicles.  I am not quite sure why he needed to make sure I was breathing, but he successfully “saved” me from a biker.  Thanks Uncle Marty!

On our way back home, we stopped at Duane Reade to get me some diaper rash ointment (thankfully, Mom didn’t buy Butt Paste).  As soon as we got home, I had dinner and then Dad showed up.

Uncle Marty was so nervous when he was holding me.  He did a great job making sure my head didn’t flop over and not dropping me.  Dad taught him the basics of the 5 S’s and Uncle Marty caught on very quickly.  I think I’m going to see a lot of him over the next few weeks, and I expect his form will improve dramatically.

After Marty left I had supper with Mom.  Mom was so exhausted that Dad took care of me while Mom went to bed.  I actually fell asleep pretty quickly in the living room, but Dad refused to move to my bassinet for fear of waking me up.  So, I slept on the couch for a couple hours while Mom got some Z’s.  Dad finally moved me in to my bassinet around 1:00 am and I slept until around 3:30 — a nice 4 and a half hour stretch.  I ate and slept for another couple of hours and then slept until 8:30 am.

Are my parents crazy?

I had no way to know just what was in store for me today.  In yesterday’s blog, I noted a definite difference in my parents’ behavior and activities, but I had no idea what it was all about.  I had breakfast really early today, at about 5:45.  As soon as I finished Mom rushed me downstairs and put me into my car seat.  So, I figured, I must have a doctor’s appointment, since 2/3 of the time I’ve ever been in a car it’s been to go to the doctor.

I noticed something was up when Mom got into the driver’s seat and Nana sat in the back with me.  Where was Dad?  Dad?!  Anyway, if you’re a regular of my blog, you’ve probably already guessed that I decided to just go to sleep.  I figured someone would wake me up if anything interesting happened.

Well, something interesting happened.  Mom drove us to O’Hare and then I saw Dad and Grandpa pull up behind us.  Mom put me in my stroller and walked inside while Dad, Grandpa, and Nana unloaded what seemed like a million suitcases, bags, and boxes from the two cars.  Mom & Dad put four of our biggest bags into a funny looking machine.  Dad pushed the other four bags on a metal cart and Mom pushed me in my stroller.  Mom & Dad seemed very relieved to have gotten rid of those bags.  I wonder where they went…

Mom & Dad had to show their drivers’ licenses to someone who stared at them for what seemed like an eternity.  Then Dad disassembled the four little bags he was carrying – taking out three laptops and a zip-top bag – while Mom carried me through a funny-looking rectangle.  The poor people in line behind Dad must have been so frustrated, but they all seemed so nice because I was so little (I bet it didn’t help that I’m pretty cute!).  Something in one of Dad’s bags must have been pretty suspicious because someone stared at a picture of it forever before letting Dad have it back.  Mom & Dad seemed to be on cloud nine.  I still had no clue what was going on.

We went and stood by a sign that said “E8” for almost an hour.  Mom rocked my stroller, seemingly very interested in keeping me asleep.  I opened an eyelid every now and then to make sure I was taking everything in for my blog, but kept them happy by staying asleep.  Mom, Dad, and I then boarded JetBlue Flight 908 to some place called New York City.  It’s nice that we’re going somewhere “new” – Chicago does seem pretty old.

I sat in seat 23A, in Mom’s lap.  Mom seemed really, really interested in getting me to eat as soon as a very loud man said “we’re third in line for take-off.”  Come on, I don’t feed on command.  So, instead of getting to eat, I got a strange piece of silicone inserted in my mouth.  At first it felt kind of weird, but I really liked it and I sucked on it for about half an hour.  It had now been over four hours since breakfast and I was starting to get a bit hungry. 

Dad took me into a really small room and laid me on a really hard surface to change my diaper, which he did in record time.  I came back out and after Dad created a makeshift curtain out of my blanket, I had my mid-morning snack with Mom.

The rest of my flight went by uneventfully.  Mom tried to feed me during the descent but it was a bit too bumpy.  Dad convinced me to try the pacifier again and I laid in his lap until we touched down at JFK.  We waited for everyone else to de-plane and I got a bunch of compliments from the JetBlue staff on my way off.

We got our bags and met a blue minivan to take us to our new home.  About an hour later, we arrived at our new apartment.  Dad went to the office to pick up the keys and we walked right in.  I was so hungry!  I hadn’t had a real meal since 5:45 am.  While I was eating with Mom, Dad set up my new play yard which will be my primary hangout while I’m in NYC.

I ate and slept and ate and slept (hey, I didn’t do much of either on the trip).  Since Dad had to go to work, we decided to go to sleep around 10:00 for the night, rather than midnight, like usual.

But I wasn’t going to let them get off the hook that easily.  Oh no. 

I got up around 12:45 and ate (so much for going to sleep “for the night”).  Mom tried to get me to go back to sleep, but I stayed awake until 2:15.  I’m sure Mom thought she was going to get a few hours of sleep.  Oh no.

I woke up less than 2 hours later (around 3:45 am).  Mom tried to change me in the dark. Not only was Dad too tired to get up and help (thanks a lot!), but he almost kicked me in the head in mid-change.  Mom didn’t have the new diaper properly aligned under my dirty one (Mom – try turning on a light next time!).  My loyal blog readers will know what I did — I peed!  All over Mom’s hand, my outfit, the new diaper, the old diaper, the changing pad, and anything else within pee-shot. 

Mom was so sad!  I even heard her say a word that I had previously only heard Dad say!

 I ate and didn’t go back to sleep until 5:30…and then I woke up again at 6:15!  Poor Mom didn’t get any sleep.  Dad?  He didn’t wake up once…

Well, Mom & Dad definitely made up for a sleepy Sunday with about as a productive a day as I’ve ever seen.  (Unfortunately, this productivity didn’t include especially flattering pictures of me.)  Mom usually goes back to sleep after my breakfast feeding, but not today.  She hopped right up and went to work packing up her stuff.  Mom, Dad, and I spent the morning in their bedroom.  I just rolled around on the bed and watched clothes come flying out of closets and drawers and into suitcases.

After lunch, we went downstairs and they spent some time ordering various things we’re going to need in NYC.  Then Mom & I headed down to the office and helped (or, rather, watched) Dad pack up our media center, TiVo, and dvd player.  At around 3:00, a nice woman came by to clean the bathrooms and kitchen and a few minutes after that Nana and Grandpa Yagan came over to spend their last night in Chicago with us.  As soon as Nana came in, she said “Laila is all mine tonight!”

While Nana and Grandpa were monopolizing me, Dad did the dishes and Mom sorted through the mountain of papers on her desk.  Finally the cleaning lady finished up and said, in somewhat broken English, “beautiful baby!”  Wow, I am definitely getting  a big head!

Nana and Grandpa then offered to babysit me (hey, I don’t need to be babysat!) while Mom & Dad went out for dinner.  Mom & Dad got dressed up and seemed really happy to be leaving me!  I’m not sure why I wasn’t invited…  Anyway, I don’t think there’s going to be a lot of babysitting happening in New York, so it’s probably good that they got some time alone.  I behaved pretty well for Nana and Grandpa, getting just fussy enough for Grandpa to get to practice his shushing skills (good job!).

Once Mom & Dad got back it was all business.  I have to admit, though, I really enjoyed my dinner with Mom.  There was something really soothing and relaxing about it.  The meal tasted a bit like…grapes.  Chianti?  Zinfandel?  No, I think it must have been just a hint of chardonnay.  YUM!

I went to sleep for the night a bit earlier than usual – around 11:00 pm and then around 3:00 for my snack.  I usually sleep in until about 8:00, but I could tell my parents were going to want to get an early start on the day, so I woke myself for breakfast up around 5:30 – just a few minutes before they were planning to wake me up anyway.