NY State of Mind

Raya had a great first visit to NY...it was typical August summer in NY Hazy, Hot and Humid, but we survived and I honestly think it helped her sleep better, two night in a row she did 8.5 hours of sleep!!!

My sister Jen came down from Boston to visit and my Aunt came over for play dates. We also went to my Aunts for a BBQ which was nice, I hadn't been over to her house in a while, and it was here that Raya started practicing her roll over skills.  Granted she was propped on a pillow but she rolled over and off the pillow a few times! 

It was fun to get together with my high school friends and some of Raya's future boyfriends (we have to keep an eye on her she has a list of potential future boyfriends on BOTH coasts !!).

Tim and I got to see a show in the city...NEWSIES!!!  I was seriously OBSESSED with this movie when I was a tween, I rented it like every weekend from the local video shop and when I saw it for sale one day I bought it, so yes I have a VHS copy but I fully intend to transfer it to dvd when I can.  The movie was made into a play and my mom bought us tickets for "date night".  I loved it, the music was mostly the same from the movie, so of course that was great, but the choreography was AMAZING!!!  These guys were leading and dancing all over the place, the stamina they must have, geesh! Tim had never seen the movie and I think he enjoyed the play, at the very least he can probably understand why I enjoyed the movie so much as a 12ish year old, cute boys singing and dancing around, heck yeah!!

My mom threw a little meet and greet party for her friends to meet the baby and Michelle, Sean and Logan came up to visit as well (despite all the traffic :()

And otherwise we just hung out, played with Raya, watched the Olympics, and caught up on a few glasses of wine! :)  We plan to head back east this winter and the weather is sure to be drastically different!

 

Raya moves out

Well the time has finally come and we have transitioned Raya to her crib in her room ALL the way down the hall :(

I said that we would do this when we got back from NY and I stood by my word.  For a few reasons I figured it would be a good move...She has grown a couple of inches and shifts herself around in her sleep so she was running out of room in her bassinet as well as the fact that Tim and I were very easily woken by just some normal fussing during sleep even if she wasn't waking herself up she was waking us up.

So a few days after we got home from NY I tested the move by putting her down for a nap in her crib and she did great, 2.5 hour nap, awesome!!!  Bedtime came and it was a small struggle to get her to sleep but she slept for a good 7.5 hour stretch, phew...not as painful as we thought the transition would be. 

There are certainly times when we don't catch her at the right time and keep her up longer than she should have been and it's a little harder to get her to sleep but overall she has been great!!! Truthfully, I can't say I've gotten much more sleep, I stay up staring at the monitor making sure she is sleeping, breathing, and that her face is not butted up against the bumper ;)

She likes the freedom and has much more space to move around, I find her having rotated 180 degrees or pushed up against the bumper vertically at the end of the crib when she was placed to sleep in the center horizontally, it's kinda funny!

Next step will be transitioning out of her swaddle to sleep...she loves to feel all tucked in, but I know we will have to start working her out of it soon...she's growing up so fast!!

Raya earns her wings

I had decided to make a last minute trip East for Raya to meet some family and friends she had not yet been able to meet as well as see my mom and sister again, they just can't get enough of little sweet pea :)

Initially the plan was to go alone with her until Tim mentioned he wanted to come along, phew!!!

It was definitely helpful having him along for the flight, just little things you take for granted, like going to the bathroom!!!, when you travel without a child.

We took the 10:30 AM flight which worked out great with her schedule, she was ready to eat as we were taking off and napped a good amount in flight. I brought a boppy pillow, laid it across my waist and she napped on that. She played a little, fussed a minimal amount, watched some Olympics they were showing on tv and before I knew it we were there...YAY!!! Her ears never have her much of an issue, but she was also good about sucking on her pacifier.

I hate take off on flights and for the first time ever I wasn't paying attention to my nerves because I had somebody else to keep safe :)

Tim had to come back a few days early for work and i was a little nervous making the trip alone. I accepted help when I needed it but the flight back was a little more rough. It's a longer flight going from east to west, it took forever to get off the ground, her schedule was a bit off from the time difference, but overall she was a good girl...we are very lucky that she is an adaptable baby and loves to smile :) but I was certainly glad to see Tim waiting for us when we landed!!

Since my family is on the east coast I have no doubt that will not be my last trip flying solo with her but at least I know a little of what to expect now...

Coming soon!!!

I've been a bit behind here, coming soon to the blog;

Raya goes on an airplane
Rayas first trip to NY
Raya moves into her bedroom

Stay tuned :)