On the Job

This week was my first week back at work after my maternity leave. As most of you know, I am fortunate to work for an extremely family friendly agency… So, after four luxurious months off from work, I was able to return to work with my new associate Vita. Vita will be coming to work with me every day, until she is six months old. Over the previous weekend, I set up an entire mini nursery at my cubicle. Vita has a bassinet / playpen, a basket for the bobby pillow, a bouncy chair, a diaper changing station, and lots of toys right at my desk. I also spread out into the area outside my cubicle, where Vita parks her stroller, and where Vita has access to another borrowed jumperoo. Finally, I put up a curtain for privacy. Isn’t this a nice set up? Over the past week, Vita has spent most of her time at work sleeping, eating, playing with toys, jumping, and socializing. I guess that makes her a typical government employee (just kidding)! Here she’s napping, completely unaware that she’s about to be transported into a meeting. Vita socializing with one of her new friends on her first day on the job. Vita is quite popular at work, and gets many visitors over the course of each day. (Note Vita’s “lucky charm” bib for St. Patrick’s Day.) After her first day on the job, Vita collapsed into dad’s arms. Poor little over worked girl. The diaper changing station is right by my in-box. That could be a recipe for disaster… or perhaps that’s the plan. Once again, asleep on the job. When Vita has a lot of energy, she jumps in this jumperoo. Lounging with her feet up, playing with toys. Naturally, Vita is wearing blue jeans because it’s casual Friday. Finally, the week is over, and we BOTH slept in late on Saturday. And then off to the park playground with dad for some weekend fun!

Flipper

I just saw the most spectacular thing. So Vita was laying on her back like this, with one of her legs flipped over. No big deal. Then she arched her back really far... Here's what that looked like from ground level. And then SHE FLIPPED OVER! Yes, today Vita turned over for the first time - right before my eyes. Witness the look of amazement over her spectacular achievement! Good job, Vita! PS - I'll be posting an update about our first week back at work soon... but I just couldn't wait to share the great news!

Dare Devil

Vita is such a fearless little dare devil! She loves to be lifted high up in the air by her dad.

Look how happy she is!

And then back down safely for a kiss.

Idle Time

Vita and I are making the most of our last few days of maternity leave, and really taking advantage of having idle time. Here is a lazy day nap. However, Vita has now learned that napping isn't nearly as much fun as playing with toys. One of Vita's friends (a little boy named Jackson with the most beautiful eyelashes I've ever seen) has been so generous in sharing many toys and other stuff that he has outgrown. Today, Jackson lent Vita the Fisher Price Rainforest Jumparoo... and Vita LOVES IT! Her little feet just barely touch the ground with her tippy toes. Vita started jumping right away! This photo is blurry because her feet are in a jumping and kicking frenzy. Also, the chair swivels around, and there are lots of toys to play with, and the jumping activates lights and sounds. Oh, joy!

Super Size

At just about exactly the three month mark, Vita outgrew the very last of her 3 month clothes, and we had to open up one of boxes of clothes that used to be too big. Now, Vita is wearing all 6 month sized clothes.

So, if you were sick of seeing her in the same outfits all the time in previous posts... now here's a sneak peek at the variety of outfits to come!

Vita had a few reasons to get dressed up this week. We FINALLY made it out to Sacramento so Vita could meet her Aunt Jennifer, Uncle Neville, and Cousin Dan. We didn't take many pictures, but we had a great time! Here's a picture of Dan and Vita. Dan gave Vita a pair of Osh Kosh overalls that he used to wear when he was a baby, along with a few of my very favorite books from childhood, including "Are you my mother", "Green Eggs and Ham", and "The Berenstain Bears". My favorite part of the whole day was listening in as Dan read to Vita.

Here's a picture of Vita taking advantage of the warm weather, wearing a cute brown and pink dress.

And these socks are so cute!

The teething continues, but Vita is getting better at holding things in her mouth and chomping on them.

This is what Ernie sees every day when he gets home from work. A happy mom, a happy baby, and a messy house.

Vita is starting to sleep in later in the morning these days. After a good 7 or 8 hour stretch at night, Vita wakes up at around 6am for food. Lately, she goes right back to sleep after her morning feeding. So I wake up and read in bed, and she naps right next to me like this.

Today Vita is dressed up in a cute outfit to meet up with a new friend.

Pictured below is work friend of mine and her baby. We were pregnant together, and then Kaitlyn was born just 6 weeks after Vita. When Vita goes to work with me, Kaitlyn will be there too! Here are Vita and Kaitlyn, saying goodbye.

Three Months!

Vita is three months old today! It's gone so quickly... and while it seems like it's been only three weeks or so, I already can't remember what life was like before she was born. She's changed everything, and Ernie and I have never been so happy. Speaking of happy - look at this big grin! It's too bad the flash went of and the picture is overexposed, but it's so cute anyway! Vita has a lot to be happy about. First of all, the rocking chair has finally arrived, as you can see in the picture below. Vita loves the rocking chair. I guess you could say that Vita Rocks! But there's much more to be happy about. At three months, Vita is thriving and learning new skills every day. She's doing everything three month old babies do, including impressive head lifts, big beautiful smiles, occasional laughter, bringing both hands together, reaching for objects (sometimes successfully), grabbing and shaking objects that are placed in her hands, bearing weight on her legs when held in a "standing" position, turning in the direction of familiar voices, and her "vocabulary" of noises is getting bigger. Vita is thriving physically as well. I'm certain she must be the tallest 3 month old baby on the planet. Just look at how tall she is, and at her impressive wing span! Vita isn't scheduled to go to the doctor again until 4 months, so I don't know exactly how big she has gotten. (Measuring the height of a squirming baby is very inaccurate.) However, she is starting to get too long for many of her clothes. In fact, the outfit she is pictured in below is sized for a 6 month old baby, and Vita's legs and feet are getting too long... WOW! I wish my maternity leave could go on forever, but I'll be heading back to work in less than 2 weeks. Once I'm back at work, I may not be able to post updates this frequently, but for now... enjoy the fruits of my laziness. Also, I want Vita's grandparents to know that I'm compiling a nice hard cover book to document all of the blog entries. When Vita turns one year old, I'll make copies of the book for each of you... and one to give to Vita when she's 18 or so.