Almost 4 months! (in 3 days!)

Well hello all!

It has been some time from my last entry. Not much has changed. Mia is as cute as ever...I'm not biased...ha ha ha. She sings to us all the time, laughs out loud more frequently, and just is a delight! She has begun to reach for things it seems. If I put her hand on an object, like her toys that hang on her car seat, she will understand that her hands make them move and keep hitting them. It's pretty amazing.

We give her cereal in a bottle 2x a day, in the evening before she goes to bed and in the morning. I will find out about starting solids when I take her to the Dr. next week. She is sleeping better for the most part. Her routine generally now is that she goes to bed about 9ish and gets up around 3-5am. The other night she slept from about 10pm to 5am! I was so excited. Some nights are worse than others, but I'm hoping that the better ones will outweigh the worse ones. I know we'll get there. I'm happy to be getting more than 4 hours a sleep in a row...see, I don't aske for too much! ha ha

I have her 4 month appt. next Wednesday I believe. She has to get the 4 shot thing and a second round of the oral medicine. I HATE all of this. Once again, I will load her up on Tylenol. This does seem to help.

I have been at my mother's house non-stop. Giacomo has traveled every week for the past like 4 weeks in a row. It is unusual for him to travel this much and it is the most he has traveled since I have known him. My mother in law watches the cats when I'm away. Giacomo came back Thursday only to leave again tomorrow for Las Vegas again. Yes, he was just there like 2 weeks ago. Just so happens that another convention, which rotates locations, happens to be in Vegas this year like the one convention he just went to which is always in Vegas. He's a lucky guy!

Anyway, Mia is just so cute. We took her a week ago to central park! It was April 19th! Her first trip to NYC! She loved it. We went to Sheep's Meadow and relaxed in the sun. It was so crowded, but so worth it. Giacomo and I got some wine and completely enjoyed the moment. Mia was such a good girl. Guess she'll be a city woman after all! Yeah!

Also, we went to Staten Island this past Wednesday to see my cousins. Mia's second trip to New York in one week! We went to this italian restaurant which was so, so good and Mia was such a good girl.

We took Mia to Cook College Rutgers Univ. today for her first "Ag" Field day. It was so nice, just a bit too windy and too cold. I cannot wait for Mia to be a bit older so she can enjoy all there is to offer for children there. We think Mia will be a future Rutgers student! It's hard not to in our family! We took some pics today at Rutgers that I will post on here shortly.

What else, oh, I have been working. I worked 2 days last week, Monday and Wednesday. Boy, is it an adjustment. I am happy I made this decision because it is a nice balance of being home with my little one and socializing a bit! Yes, work is a vacation! ha ha. Seriously though, I am a lactation consultant and I do like the position so far. I know everyone there and this is what I am most happy about. That is why I didn't want to leave St. Peter's. I am most likely going to do one day a week maybe two.

I am not posting any pics of Mia now, :(:(:(, only because I am writing this from my mother's house and do not have any of Mia's very current pics on her hardrive. So, as soon as I go home, either tonight or tomorrow, I'll post them when I get a chance. I have so many to show you! I'm so behind.

Oh, one more thing. We are having a "blessing" for Mia on May 10th at our home with just our immediate families. We did not want to have a big party. I am very excited about this. Mia is going to wear a gown that my mother and uncle wore, and me and my brother wore. It is so beautiful. The man who married Giacomo and I will be performing the ceremony. I think it will be very special and I am very excited about this day.

I think that is all for now. I will keep you all posted very soon with new pics and new stats from Mia's 4 month pediatrician visit! Boy, how the time has flied!

In the meantime, take care and talk to you all very, very soon!

Love, Amy, Giacomo and Mia :):) xoxoxox

We started Mia on Cereal!

Well, it finally happened. We started Mia on cereal on April 12th, this past Saturday when she was 15 weeks old! She is 3.5 months now. I was a bit reluctant, but now that I have started it, I see it's really not a big deal. She is doing very well with it, and to be honest, there is really not a big difference from her drinking formula with cereal as opposed to without it in Mia's world. We add it to her bottle so the formula is just bit thicker and will hopefully help her be satified longer. She didn't even know the difference. She sucked it down the first time without any strange face, etc. After the first few nights she was introduced to rice cereal, it did not seem to help her sleeping longer. However, last night we gave her about 4.5 ounces with the cereal in it and she slept from 930pm to 330am. Maybe it is starting to help. We'll see. That is a big accomplishment. What I am going to try and do is try to keep her up later so she will sleep until maybe 5-6am. This would be so much better. I really think she should be sleeping through the night, but I'm not too worried. Everything will come with time:) I am giving her cereal in the morning and late in the evening.

I also drove with her for the first time alone from my parents house to our house in Morristown today. I never drove this far with her alone...I know, I'm a big baby myself...lol. She was always so fussy and cranky, but now that she is doing so much better and I have finally done this, and things in the driving department seem so uphill from here! Thank goodness. See, it's all coming together, this mommy thing!

What else, she has not turned over yet. Sometimes when she is on her back, she'll push herself to the side, but not completely over. When her little toys are in front of her, she seems to be starting just a little to understand the power of her little hands. She moves then around and when her hands hit the object they clamp down and the object heads right for her mouth. I still do not think she understands the concept of reaching out to grab it, but I am sure that is not far off. I have these toy things that hang from her car seat handle and dangle in front of her. She swings her hands around and realizes that they hit it and make it move, so she keeps doing it. This is something new. I think that is about all her major changes thus far. Nothing really that big from the last entry.

Of course, she is cuter than ever, she laughs out loud more often. I'd say average once a day, and we are just loving every minute of her. We took her to a restaurant tonight in Morristown. There was a bar as well and it was a bit noisy. Mia managed to fall asleep, although not really falling into a deep sleep.

We just gave her a bottle and it's 1045pm. I am happy about this since it is later than her usual bedtime. Hopefully, she'll sleep later as well. We'll see. If this works, I am going to try and keep her up until later.

Oh, the pictures we took at Sears are here! I am posting them on this entry! Hope you enjoy. She was 3 months exactly when they were taken. It's amazing. The time is really flying now. She is almost 4 months old. About 2 more weeks to go. Cannot believe it.

The weather was the best it's been for a while and Mia spent the majority of the day outside today. At my parents house, she was in the backyard. She fell asleep in my arms as I walked outside with her. She has been pretty much indoors the majority of her little life considering she was born in the dead of winter. I cannot tell you how happy I am to have her enjoying the fresh air! It's SUCH a pleasure. She seems to love it! She is always intrigued by everything she sees and hears when she is outside. It's almost like she is saying, "wow, there is another whole world which exists outside a house!" :):)

I guess that's about it for now. I'm gonna run because Mia just fell alseep in daddy's arms and this is my signal to get the heck to bed if I'm going to make the most of my sleep. Yes, she runs the show ladies and gentlemen! ha ha

Hope you enjoy the pics.

Talk to you soon!

Love, The Bellomos :):)

Mia is getting cuter and cuter!

Hello Everyone!

So, it's been a little bit since I've posted a note. Let's see, where to start!? Ok, I'll begin by saying that I had a very busy week. I started working again at St. Peter's University Hospital. I worked a full week and had to be there everyday at 7am, which was very difficult! I have to go through orientatation AGAIN, (it's hospital policy even though I have worked there before) and then I will be doing just one day a week to start. It was my choice to go back to work. I do not want to work full time as Mia is not sleeping through the night yet and I just want to be home with her as much as possible to see her change and grow. She is doing SO SO SO much now and there seems to be something we can add to the list of things she does everday that I don't want to miss out on anything. I think one day is perfect. I'll start out with this, and then see in the future if I feel like I would like to add more days. I just think it's beneficial for Mia and I to both have time away from eachother even if it's just for one day. She stayed with my mother in law the entire week. I left the house about 6am so it was up to Giacomo to get her ready and bring her to his mother's house. It was simply too early for me to do it. He did very well I must say and even though it was torture to get through this past week, I'm so glad I did it. Giacomo is bonding so well with her and I know he feels very comfortable taking care of her now. I'm very happy about this. I have 2 more days to go, this upcoming Monday and Tuesday and then I start one day a week. It feels good to get out of the house and maintain my professional career. I don't want to lose my skills, etc. It gives Mia a chance to socialize with her family and me a chance to recharge and take a break! I think it's a win-win situation. I must admit, I can understand now how difficult it is for mothers to go back to work full time. I am blessed that I do not have to do this. I would find it so difficult to miss Mia growing up and not seeing her make those big milestones.

Mia is 15 weeks young today! That makes her 105 days! Wow, sounds long when you put it her life into days. I'll try to rack my brain and think of all the great things she is doing now. She is still singing like crazy to us, and laughs out loud every so often. She just has to be in the right mood and something will tickle her fancy. I never know what it will be though. She seems to laugh sometimes for no real reason...it's so funny. Maybe she's thinking of something silly in that head of hers. Her hands are constantly in her mouth. When we sit her up on the couch, she tries so hard and pulls herself forward. She basically can sit up on her own with little support. She eventually falls forward like a pretzel towards her feet. She LOVES to try and sit up as much as possible. It's funny to watch her try to get herself up. She works so hard at it!!

She has started to notice her feet, mostly when she is sitting up. She studies both of them and watches intently as they move around. It's so cute. I do not know if she understands that they are attached to her, but she is sure amazed by them.

She doesn't reach out for things in front of her just yet, however if something is near her hand and she feels it she will grab it, like her bib for example. She is always grabbing it and pulling it up in front of her face. Sometimes it stays there...it's too funny. It' looks like she is playing peek a boo with us. When she is in her bouncy seat her hand hits the toys hanging from it and she can lift them and looks at them. She now sees us very far away and very close up. She follows you all around the room and seems to get fussy if she is left alone. I guess she likes the company...what a social butterfly she is!

She is SO pleasant all the time now. Nighttimes are so easy and the crying spells seem to be all gone! I'm so happy. She stays up a lot during the day, taking like maybe 3-4 one hour naps here and there. 9pm seems to be consistent as the time she goes to sleep for the night. She wakes up 1-2 times before 6am. Usually around 2-4ish. Then she gets up at around 6am and stays up for an hour or 2 before she goes back to sleep for another hour or 2. This is generally her schedule now, give or take a few hours.

She is now 3.5 months old. I think we are getting ready to try some cereal soon. My pedi said not until 4 months, but according to others and my books, she is showing signs she is ready. She sits up with support, watches us when we eat, and so on. So I think next week we are going to try to introduce some cereal at night in her bottle. She'll be about 1-2 weeks shy of 4 months. If she doesn't do great with it, obviously, I'll wait, but I think at this point, it's worth a shot. Maybe it will be a lifesaver and get her to sleep through the night.

She drools ALL the time now and I am forever washing and changing bibs. They get soaked so quick. I do think she is teething. She has been very good if this indeed is the case and I hope she doesn't get any worse. I have teething rings I keep in the fridge, but she doesn't seem to be interested in these. It's funny, sometimes I take my finger and rub her gums. She must enjoy this and it must be soothing because everytime I do it, she starts to sing and go "ahhh, ahhh" . It's so cute. So I do this when I think of it.

She is now officially in all her 3-6 month outfits. Boy, does she have a wardrobe. I have something new to put on her I feel practically everydyay. She's a moviestar!

She is starting to roll over but has not done this just yet. If she is on her back she'll turn to the side, but hasn't gone all the way. I am sure this is not too far off in our future.

We are officially in number 2 diapers as well. Everything needs updating quite often I am noticing. We're always changing things! She is just overall becoming more of a person who can communicate her needs better and is just really starting to know her surroundings and the people around her. It's so, so great.

I think that's about it for now. My mother is watching her for me this coming Monday and Tuesday. My paretns are coming tomorrow to spend the day and then they are going to take Mia home with them. This is the first time they are doing this. Giacomo is traveling, AGAIN, Monday through Wednesday. I'll either stay at my mother's after I get through with work on Monday or go home to get a good night sleep and then go to my mom's on Tuesday after work. I'll miss Mia so much, but it's just 2 days so I can finish this orientation. I'm glad I got it out of the way now instead of when the weather gets even nicer and having to be there the entire week.

Ok, I keep saying this is it and then writing a lot more.

This is REALLY FINALLY IT.

Once again, here are some new pics of our little peanut. Oh and by the way, Mia made it the first time last weekend down to our condo in Wildwood. I'm so excited she finally got there and am looking so forward to summer days with my family!

Talk to you soon!

PS I purposely looked sad in the one picture with me and Mia in her Yankees T shirt. I know you can guess that I'm a Mets fan and Giacomo is a Yankees fan! I'm gonna make sure she has more Mets gear than Yankees! Don't worry all you Met fans...there's a pic of Mia in her Mets T shirt in this blog as well, and I do think she looks much better in it if I may say so myself! ha ha

More Milestones!

Ok, just a very quick post today. I'm still at my mother's house. I had a nice week. Relaxed, slept a bit and my mom and dad enjoyed Mia so much. I noticed Mia doing some more things. Again, it's so amazing to see the changes being made everyday, big and small! She's really growing up so fast!

Here are some new things:

She pulls at her pants, bib, shirts, etc. She never did this before. If I show her something to grab, she still does not get the concept of trying to reach for it yet. If I actually put it in her hands, she holds it and in her mouth it goes most of the time.

Her head is getting steadier and steadier. I can hold her on my hip and really don't have to support her head anymore.

Also, about 2 nights ago on April 1, my anniversary by the way!, she REALLY was laughing a lot. My mom was saying something silly and it just made her laugh and laugh. She was just in the right mood and was silly. The more we laughed, the more she got a kick out of it and laughed out loud more. IT WAS SIMPLY THE BEST!!!!! She really hasn't done it again since then, but this was the longest laughing out loud episode she has had. I assume there will be more and I'm sure not complaining!

She really takes note when someone walks in the room, she turns towards the sound and can see people across the room well now. Also her vision close up is so much better. It's so funny, when I give her the bottle, she looks at it and is cross-eyed because it's so close. She was never able to focus this close, so I know for sure her vision is improving both far and near.

She "sings" all the time. It was so funny...she was half sleeping this morning and I went to put her in her stroller and she started to sing..."ahhh, ahhhh, ahhhh" like half asleep..it was so funny, I laughed so hard.

When she is fussy because she is sleepy she is getting stonger and squirms in my arms so much. Sometimes she just wants to be put down to go to sleep on her own. She is definitely getting physically stronger. She pushes off with her feet when they are on the ground now. I think in a couple of weeks, she'll be ready for the exer-saucer. My friend started it at 4 months, so she is almost there.

She is just changing so much...I know I keep saying it, but it's so amazing to see. Oh, we are filling her bottles to 6 ounces now. She can take from 4-5 if she's really hungry, so I figured we'll start doing this. So now we are using the bigger 9oz. bottles. They look gigantic. She still does not want a pacifier no matter how hard I try to get her to take it. So we'll see about this.
She woke up at least one time a night while I was at my mothers. Not too bad.

What else, oh, Giacomo is on his way back as I write this post. He'll be in this afternoon and then will come to my mom's tomorrow and then we're on our way to Wildwood. As soon as I get home next week, I'll post pics from this past week.

I'm sure it's not long at all in our future that Mia will be turning over. If I change her and rest her head on a pillow and walk away for a second, her head is off the pillow! We have to be very careful now that she is really starting to try and move.

Ok, I guess that's it for now. Talk to you very soon!

Amy