One month old: Meeting the family

Month 2 – July 11- August 11

The first week of Aisling's second month began with a Week of Adventure!

Meeting GeeGee

We left for Oregon on Friday July 12. It was about 3 hours from San Francisco to Doug’s grandmother Webster’s (“GeeGee”) home in Ukiah, CA. She loved meeting her great-grand daughter Aisling, and we had a good long visit with her and Aunt Myrna, and an overnight stay and breakfast. We drove about 5 hours to Medford the next day, Saturday. We’d decided to take it slow in case Aisling had a car seat meltdown (which she never did, praise the Heavens), and to allow time to stop and feed/change her. She did great, but we could tell that she’d reached her limit at 5 hours on the road. On Sunday we made it to Portland where we had a nice visit with Doug’s long-time friends, Ian and Cynda, and their sweet family. It was quite an experience watching the non-stop action of their three boys (ages 5, 2 ½, and 9 mos). I will always admire Cynda’s prowess as a mother.

Meeting Grandma, and Uncle Phil

The next day (Monday) we spent some time exploring Portland (food trucks! Powell’s books!) before meeting Aisling’s Grandma Elizabeth and Uncle Phil. We had a lovely dinner and then walked to a park for a nice family photo shoot. Tuesday we spent the day with Grandma and explored some of Oregon's great wine country! We just love Oregon Pinot Noir. 

Meeting Great-Grandpa Puett

On Wednesday we were back on the road to Bend, OR to meet Doug’s Puett grandparents, and Aunt and Uncle Smith and the cousins. It was a nice drive over the mountain and through the desert.

Meeting Great Grammie

The fourth generation at Paulina Lake, OR!

We enjoyed a nice dinner with the family, and on Thursday Doug and I had a little baby-free excursion all by ourselves to Deschutes Brewery for lunch while Great Grammie Puett cuddled with Aisling. Yumm. That afternoon we went to a music festival on the lawn of the park by the Deschutes river. It was nice to be out in the open at a relaxed event with family. Before we hit the road home, we drove to Paulina Lake, where Aisling's great-great-great grandfather lived for a while, and which has become a traditional Puett family destination.

On Aisling’s official due date (July 19) we were driving home from our week-long road trip to see family. Aisling slept in the carseat, cuddled with us, and continued to eat like a champ. Her head control was improving, and she was beginning to focus on peoples’ faces. She loved to look at contrasting colors and patterns.

Meeting Aunt Laurie

The next Monday Doug went back to work, and my sister Laurie came to visit us for the whole week! Laurie is my earth-mama sister: she's laid-back and philosophical. We had lots of fun exploring San Francisco, the beach, and Muir Woods. She loved meeting baby Aisling, took care of her while I had doctor and dentist appointments, cleaned the apartment, played board games with us, and helped us cook a yummy dinner! It was a great visit. Aisling was making eye contact, noticing faces and voices, and just starting to think about smiling. I was homesick when I left Laurie at the airport, but I knew it would just be another few days before I'd see my other sister!

The last week in July was my first week home alone with Aisling. I quickly developed a whole new respect for stay-at-home mommies! Aisling wasn’t a particularly difficult baby, but she was very time- and energy-consuming to me, especially by myself. I found myself looking forward every day to Doug’s return so that I could have some relief and alone-time. I just don't think I'll be a mom who can stay at home and administer my daughter's entire childhood. I'm absolutely certain that there are women (and men!) who are specially gifted with a talent for doing just that, and I can't wait to enlist their help! But I have committed to being home for her first few months, at least, because it's best for her, and because I can! I am completely grateful for the ability to witness her changes and growth, and the ability to continue breastfeeding. Also it's wonderful to be able to respond to her needs instead of setting a "schedule" that's artificially dictated by my need to work or a daycare's need to have everything on a timeline.

Our first anniversary was August 3 (yay!). It was a fairly uneventful day – we went to the toystore to get Aisling an activity gym for her to practice tummy time and start to interact with toys. It was an overwhelming experience for Mommy and Daddy! She loved the gym we ended up choosing, which is made by Skip Hop.

Her 2-month pediatrician appointment was on August 6^th. It was a big day, because this was the day she got her first set of vaccinations. It was also a big deal because her weight was higher than the 60^th percentile for full-term babies in height, weight, and head circumference! She also impressed the doctor by pushing her chest up off the table with her arms and holding her head up high. That was a big developmental milestone! As a preemie we've been told to expect her to lag developmentally behind other babies of her same chronological age, but she seems to be catching up fast.

Meeting Aunt Tracie

My other sister Tracie came to visit August 7-11. She got to see more of Aisling’s smiles and cuddles. Aisling was getting much stronger, smiling pretty consistently, and starting to have good head control, but she still hated tummy time. Tracie is incredibly positive and cheerful and energetic, and a natural homemaker; she helped so much to make our apartment feel more homey, and impressed upon me the desire to hire a personal organizer for our next apartment. Although she was only there for a few days, she was so much help to us.

Overall, Aisling's second month was great! Her third month was a blur, and I'll post about that next.

Wearing Grandma Elizabeth's baby bonnet