little lady

Mia is quite the little lady...she attended her first 1154 Lill studio purse party - Grandma hosted it at her house (mommy's idea, hehe). We got to pick out patterns, fabrics, purse styles, it was so much fun! Mary was there and a few of grandma's friends too. Mommy and Mary both picked out some cool fabrics for the "Drea" purse. Mia helped me pick them out. Here, notice Mia standing on the purse fabrics? Yes, she has found a new fun thing, to stand up. Mommy holds her hands and says "UPPPP" and she stands up...then we say "DOWNNN" and she sits down.

On Friday, Mia and I went to mommy's kindergarten class' end of the year picnic yesterday. Mia had lots of fun, even fell asleep during the picnic! Mommy's friend from school loaned her a very good, insightful book about healthy sleep habits. Her and daddy have been reading it, diligently, and are finding out some very useful tips and information that will hopefully help Mia to sleep more and nap better.

check out the purses at http://www.1154lill.com

great great

Yesterday we had a very special visit from Mia's great great aunt Mary! She was in town from Georgia (she just moved there last year) and came with Mia's great aunt Marilyn. It was so fun to see them both!

Mia has been ooohing and laughing up a storm - it's so cute to hear her! I had taken her to Poppies a few days ago and bought her this adorable jumper that luckily was on sale. I almost bought her this one top but decided on the jumper. Well the next day we took Grandma to Poppies and she said "oh look at this top, I am going to get it for Mia" and it was the SAME top mommy picked out - great minds. The photo of Mia and I she is wearing her new top. The other photo is Mia with her great aunts.

long weekend

Mia has found two new best friends -- her hands! She has been putting them together, putting them in her mouth ( making a funny face when she does, they must not taste too good) and she has begun to bat at objects (pulling mommy's hair and daddy's chest hair too). She has been a busy little peanut. Friday, grandma came for the day and we took her out for her first lunch! We went to Fresh Starts, she slept for the entire lunch except at the end she woke up a little bit so we headed home. Saturday, daddy and I took her on the Metra train for an afternoon downtown. We met up with daddy's cousins Kathy and Tony, had a hot dog by the bean, walked around, had coffee at Intelligensia then we took Mia for her first shopping spree at Lohman's! Mommy and her each bought something!
Sunday was the first night that she only woke up once! We put her down in her crib at 8:30 pm, she woke up briefly for mommy at 1:30 to nurse and she went right back to sleep! Then she woke up at 5:30! What a good baby. Let's hope she continues this trend. The trick is, getting her to nap during the day so that she sleeps good at night!

3 months

Baby Mia is 3 months old today! Milestones she has reached so far: rolling over from tummy to back, lifts her head steadily, brings her hands together and to her mouth, laughs and is now starting to 'talk'. I love that I have been home with her to see her reach each of these milestones. It's amazing to see her grow right before my eyes! Now if we can just get this sleep thing down. Day three of crib was a bit rough. Daddy rocked her for the first two shifts then mommy got her for the third shift. Mommy has been doing naps in the crib today too so she will get used to it.

Photos: top right - 3 weeks old; bottom right - 2 months old; bottom left - 3 months;
below - 3 months during tummy time (wearing her first CLIP)

first night in the CRIB!

Daddy and I talked about this and decided, it's time! Mia is fast approaching 3 months and soon she will be aware of her surroundings and her sleep patterns will start to become sleep habits. We want her to form healthy sleep habits so we can all get a good nights sleep.

Last night was her first time sleeping in her crib in her bedroom. She did much better than I thought. We first put her down at 10pm...daddy and I layed in bed listening to the monitor that picks up EVERY tiny little noise. Soon we heard her stirring andMia woke up 1020 and then didn't go back down until midnight, put remember this is just practice and everyday she will get better. She then slept until 2:45am, I nursed her and then tried something a little different. I put her down, half asleep, and tried to get her to fall asleep on her own. To my utter amazement she did after only about 10 mins! She woke up again around 5:50 and after I nursed her, did the same routine. By 7am, I brought her in bed with me to nurse and we both slept until 9:45am! So although it was a bit rough, I think we are on the right path to her sleeping longer and IN her crib as opposed to the bassinet in our room. I am going to see how this week goes and hope that each night will get a little easier.

I realize that even at Mia's young age, babies need routines! Grandma spent the night on Friday and we stayed up a little late watching a movie. We didn't swaddle her, daddy didn't read to her and as a result she was up until 1:30am! It was nuts! We learned the hard way to make sure we follow her same routine each night in order for us all to get some sleep!

doctor updates

Mia had her surgery follow-up appointment on Tuesday. Everything looked just fine and we were in and out of the office in no time. She gave the surgeons huge smiles and that made their day.

Wednesday, we had our follow up with Dr. Selig...who told me that when she found the 'mass' she truly thought it was a tumor. Boy, all of our prayers truly were answered in that the mass was just a hernia. I am so thankful this is behind us. Anyhow, the visit went fine, Mia did cry the entire time for Dr. Selig but when it came time for her shots, she did amazingly well. She is measuring at 22 inches, weighing in at 10 lbs 8 oz, only about 20 percentile for her age. The doctor wasn't too concerned as she is growing in length and head size...we'll check it out in 6 weeks when we go back for her 4 month shots! We also received a prescription for zantac to help with Mia's fussiness in the event that she is experiencing GERD. But she really hasn't been nearly as fussy as before her surgery so we are hoping the worst is behind us.

Now to tackle these sleeping patterns....our goal is by 4 months for her to be sleeping in her crib (she is still in her bassinet in our room). Wish us luck!

mother's day

Happy Mother's Day to all! It was amazing to celebrate my first Mother's Day! Yesterday, Mia, Corey and I drove to Sunrise farms in Grant Park, IL to shop for annuals. This greenhouse is HUGE and was packed with tons of mom's! We came home and planted our flowers. Today, we went to my mom's for a Mother's Day brunch. Mia met her great aunt stacy and uncle gilbert and was able to visit with Uncle Brian and grandma and grandpa hallam again. Mia bought me a beautiful necklace with her birthstone in it. Charlie and Bosco bought me a huge bamboo plant and Corey bought me an orchid.

Mia is doing great. We are noticing that she is much less fussier than before her surgery. She must have been in some pain so I am glad she is feeling better. She is still rolling over from tummy to back, even though it's still 'early'. Tuesday we go for a check up with our surgeon then Wednesday is our re-visit to the pediatrician for the 'shots'.

photos from today: Uncle Brian being silly with Mia; Mommy and Mia with uncle brian and grandma; mommy, daddy and Mia

unexpected journey

Wednesday was a day Corey and I will never forget, but thankful Mia won't remember. We had taken her to her 2 month well check-up on Tuesday when Dr. Selig said to us "what's this?" She was referring to a little mass near Mia's groin area. My hair on the back of my neck stood up, I immediately was alarmed, as I hadn't been aware of this 'mass'.

We ended up taking her straight to the Comer Children's ( Univ of Chicago) hopsital ER, where the pediatric surgeons were awaiting our arrival. Grandma came and met us immediately. We spent several hours in the ER waiting for a bed to open up, during this time several surgeons came in and finally determined the mass was a hernia. Although it was better news than we had thought, Mia was to have this hernia repaired surgically. Finally at about 10:30 pm, we were admitted and went to our room.

The children's hospital was just re-built 3 years ago and is very high tech. I knew she'd be in great hands with some of the best surgeons in the nation. Tuesday night I stayed up all night with Mia in my arms, rocking her to sleep and feeding her Pedilyte, as she couldn't have any more breastmilk. She slept peacefully and took the pedilyte without a hitch.

Wednesday at 6am, Mia had to go NPO until surgery. That was tough. Daddy did most of the rocking and soothing to her. Grandma was there too to help out. Mia slept a lot, cried and fussed at times and actually took a pacifier. Finally at 12:30 pm, they took her to pre-op. The surgery took about 1 hour and 15 mins. She woke up screaming for mommy to feed her! The nurses tried to give her a bottle but heck no was she going to take that!

We are home now, very thankful that this is behind us and that Mia is just fine. She truly was a strong and brave little baby. How ironic that today is Corey's birthday and this Sunday will be my first Mother's Day. We already received the best gift of all - our little Mia is healthy and home.

grandma victoria

Yesterday was a big day for Mia. In honor of her grandma Victoria, we participated in the MS walk on the lakefront. Grandpa, Aunt Jean and Aunt Sue came in town to join us! Mia took her first train ride into the city and slept the entire way! She did amazing! We then met Grandma and Grandpa Hallam. It was a beautiful day! Mia walked with Daddy for the 3 miles and slept most of the time, opening her eyes at other times to enjoy all the action around her! When we finished, we went to grandma's office building for a quick lunch, then headed back on the train with our Caporale family. Mia slept the entire way home too! We were so proud how great she did and look forward to taking her downtown frequently.

Photos: Mia sleeping on the train; Mia in the bjorn with Daddy on our walk; Team Victory at the MS 2008 walk!

roll over

Tummy time has been a bit more fun since Grandma bought her a special tummy time mat/pillow. It's hard for most babies to have tummy time because their heads are so heavy so the support pillow really works. Well, last night, Mia was showing daddy how great her head control is getting. So we took the support pillow away and she was doing a great job keeping her head up. All of a sudden, she started to move to her side and then she rolled over to her back! She was smiling after she did it, like she knew she reached a milestone. This morning during tummy time, I again took the pillow away and after a minute of raising her head, she slowly rolled over again!

Here is a quick video of Mia rolling over.