Take a Ride on the Fuss Bus

Brianne is a fantastic baby, but every once in awhile, she decides to see how loud she can get before Mommy and Daddy want to pull their hair out. She has plenty to eat, a clean diaper, gas bubbles all burped out, lots of cuddles, but nothing can console her. That's why I think she just likes to see if she can beat her screaming record from the day before. Or maybe she just takes after Marty in that she likes to hear herself talk :o)

We are very lucky that she seems only to get fussy in the evening for a few hours, but then goes right to sleep at bed time. She has been getting into a routine of sleeping from 11:30pm to 4:00am, eating for 15 minutes, then sleeping until 7:00am. This is way better than waking up every 2 hours, though we are definitely looking forward to sleeping through the night, hopefully sometime in the near future (and before we are both completely bald from hair pulling).

Brianne on the Fuss Bus. Wow, that's a mad face.

B is for Belly Button

Great news! Brianne's little umbilical stump finally fell off this past week. It took a little bit longer to fall off than the baby books tell you is standard, so of course we were thinking it was stuck on there permanently. But with diligent alcohol swabbing, it came off when we changed her diaper. I dont think we've ever been so happy to have a part of her body fall off. Hopefully nothing else will fall off any time soon...

Meet Brianne's belly button! That little brown thing to the right of her is the umbilical stump. I am saving it so I can bring it out and embarass her in front of her friends when she is a smart-mouth teenager.

Sunny Days

It was such a nice day yesterday that we decided to take Brianne to the beach for a little bit. She enjoyed the sea breeze for awhile in the shade of a cabana, and got to wear her special tank top onesie and a cute beach hat. She didn't get to take full advantage of the beach festivities since she is too little to be out in direct sun light. She was a little bummed since she wanted to try some beach volleyball, but she contented herself to hang back and relax with Mommy and Grandma Mimi. We're looking forward to sharing beach fun with Brianne in a few months when she's big enough to enjoy it!

Brianne in her special beach hat. She's growing so fast, i'm sure it will fit her soon.


Mommy and Brianne enjoying the sea breeze.

Fun on the Flip Side

To help strengthen Brianne's little neck and back muscles, we've started doing Tummy Time. For those of you not living in 3 hour increments with a newborn, this means putting the baby on her stomach for as long as she'll tolerate it, and letting her try to move her head around to look up at you or a toy. Considering she cant hold her head up when we're assisting her, this is more challenging than one might think. But that's why Tummy Time is so important! So she can (hopefully someday soon) not be a little bobble head.

The first time we did Tummy Time, she lasted for about 4 minutes before screaming like a banshee. Cooper was so concerned about her that he brought her a toy to soothe her. It was so cute. She doesnt like Tummy Time much now, but hopefully she'll grow to enjoy it. We sure like watching her try :o)

Brianne after about a minute of Tummy Time. She actually lifted her head up to look at me, but the effort exhausted her.


Cooper brought his favorite toy to Brianne to cheer her up after she got tired of Tummy Time. It's that green thing on her blanket (it used to be a turtle before he mangled it).

No Dating 'Til She's 40

No dating 'til she's 40. This is a direct quote from Dad Marty. I'm not sure how well this will go over with Brianne, but considering she can't hold her head upright yet, I think she has more important things to worry about for the time being. This weekend, Brianne got to meet some of her buddies for the first time - Bradley DiPaolo and Cayden Barrocas. Marty had stern conversations with both boys to reinforce the "no dating" rule. We are looking forward to future play dates with Bradley and Cayden, though I think I will have to call them something else besides play "dates" so Marty doesn't get upset. Maybe something like "platonic activity time"...

Brianne and I visiting with Cayden with his mom, Barbra. They were so happy to meet each other that they instantly fell asleep.

Our friends Alona and Frank introducing Bradley to Brianne. Yes, Brianne sleeps a lot, but I think she's subconsciously enjoying meeting all her new friends.

Attack of the Eye Boogies

On Friday, July 31, Brianne turned 2 weeks old! Unbelieveable how time flies. We celebrated her 2-week birthday by going to the doctor for her 2 week check up. What an uncool mom I am, taking her to the doctor for her special day. I'll have to step up my game for the next birthday. She did very well at the doctor. She is growing like a weed and is very healthy overall. The day before, her eye was looking kind of gooey, so it was very fortunate we already had this appointment scheduled. The doctor said this was very common for babies, and prescribed eye drops and tear duct massage. Yes, tear duct massage. Apparently her tear ducts are still immature and can get clogged - learn something knew every day.

Getting situated in the doctors office - no waiting in the Waiting Room for us (not that we're special or anything, all new borns go right in so the sick kids dont infect them).


Brianne resting after getting poked and measured by Nurse Jody. No shots today, but she sure does not like the nurse and doctor invading her personal space.

Wedding Bells are Ringing

On July 24, my brother-in-law, Marc, proposed to his girlfriend Jen on top of the Empire State Building in New York City. So romantic. They actually got another tourist to film the proposal, and the funniest part of the whole video is the tourist in the background cheering Marc on (he actually drowns Marc out in some parts). We are so happy for Marc and Jen and look forwarding to having Jen as part of our family! Brianne actually passed out in her excitement for them both.

Here is Brianne buttering Marc and Jen up to pick her as flower girl :o)