Fiona’s First Pool

26th May 2010

A few weeks ago, we purchased a little blue blowup pool for Fiona.  This past weekend, it was put into service for the first time.  While the water was a little cold for Fiona’s taste at first, she eventually became use to the temp and turned out to love the water.  I can’t say that we were shocked because she absolutely loves bath time, but she really loves her first pool, especially when sharing it with one of her favorite toys, a Kai-Lan bath toy.

We’ll have a video of the event on YouTube soon, and you can now check out our Fiona’s First Pool Flickr set:

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Beeps and Hugs

14th May 2010
Our family knows this story well.  It all goes back a few months ago, to when Grandma Gilligan started by touching Fi’s nose with her fingertip and “beeping” as she touched her nose.  Pretty soon, Amy and I were doing the same. Fi was always amused.  One morning, Grandpa Gilligan was sitting at the kitchen counter reading the newspaper, and Fi joined him in his breakfast routine.

With Fiona sitting on the counter in front of him, Grandpa G touched Fi’s nose, made the beep sound, and repeated the process a few times.  After a few beeps, he held his finger a few inches away from Fi’s nose, and then she did the unexpected.  She leaned her nose into his finger so he would beep again.  Much to Fi’s satisfaction, Grandpa G beeped and Fi’s smile was a mile wide.

We’ve been trying to get it on camera ever since.  This week, we finally did.

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4 Teeth? You Betcha!

7th May 2010

For my first blog post from the Wordpress iPad app, I feel the need to mention that we noticed tooth number four poking through today. It’s just barely sticking out of the gum, but is definitely visible. The little one is growing so fast, and we love her oh so much. Now it’s time to get back to work.

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Tooth 3 for Fi

20th April 2010

As of the 10th of April, Fiona is 7 months old. Just today, we noticed her third tooth popping through her top gum. She’s sitting up for long periods at a time and reaches for and grabs pretty much anything and everything. I almost forgot about the talking/growling. It’s quite possibly the cutesy thing ever.

These first 7 months have gone so fast. We’re just doing our best to enjoy every minute.

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Still Rollin’

7th April 2010

Lately we’ve been working on improving our bedtime routine for Fiona in an attempt to get her to consistently put herself to sleep, as opposed to her falling asleep on Amy’s lap and then us laying her down in her crib.  Tonight was very much like every other night we’ve tried this routine, with Fi fussing when we lay her down as though we were leaving her, never to return.  After a few minutes of fussing, there was complete silence.  Like I typically do, I went in to check on her, only to find that she was so upset this time, she had flipped herself onto her stomach, still sound asleep.  She’s never done that in bed before, or at the very least, she’s never done so without flipping back over before we could find her on her stomach.

Side note -she’s not quite sitting up on her own yet, but when helped up into a sitting position, she can for minutes at a time without assistance.  Every day is something new.  Even the smallest things are special.

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Great Start to the Day

16th March 2010

Yesterday, when dropping Fiona off at my in-laws before work, I had a first with Fiona that will be hard to top.  Our little girl has been reaching and grabbing for people and objects for some time now.  She’s reached out a hand to grab my nose on multiple occasions, but never before had she done what she did yesterday.  

I handed Fiona to her grandma and she turned her head back to look at me like she always does.  But this time, it was a little different.  She looked at me for a few moments, and then reached both hands out to me as if asking me to hold her.   If you think that didn’t make going to work difficult, you’ve got another thing coming.

What does today have in store for us?

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6 Months

10th March 2010

Our babyThe picture above was taken this past weekend, while Fiona was still a 5-month old.  Today marks 6 months since our little Fiona was born.  I can’t believe it’s been 6 months already.  It’s pretty common to hear that time flies when you have children, but for me, this cements that concept.  The time really has flown.

It seems like only yesterday, we arrived home from the hospital, unsure of how to care for an infant.  Now we confidently identify the reason for Fiona’s cries and relish every single smile and laugh.  Every day seems to bring something new, another first to add to the list.

What do the next 6 months have in store for us?  Will she sit up completely on her own?  Will she start crawling or possibly even walking?  Will she utter her first words?  What will those first words be?  How many more teeth will come in?  Will she start feeding herself?  I can’t wait to find out, but would love it to seem like 6 months, and not merely weeks.  I want to enjoy every second of it.

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Tooth #2 is a Go

22nd February 2010

Fiona is a teething machine.  It was only last Wednesday that we noticed the first tooth peeking through her bottom gum. This morning we received a call from Fi’s grandma informing us that my suspicions about a second tooth were correct. The second tooth broke through the gumline and is showing to the world whenever Fi flashes her beautiful smile.  Being a dad gets better every day.

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What a Week

20th February 2010

This past week was an amazing one for Amy and I as parents. Monday started the week off on a grand note. We finished changing Fiona’s diaper and were preparing her for bedtime. She kept rolling around trying to get to Amy, when all of a sudden she rolled over from back to belly for the first time ever. After a few days of trying – Fi’s camera shy like her parents – I was finally able to get it on video. She almost rolls right out of the scene:

Wednesday rolled around and provided us with another first, and only somewhat of a surprise. As Amy was picking Fiona up from grandma and grandpa’s house, she noticed Fi’s first tooth coming in. Somehow, Amy managed to get a picture of the tooth, and with the DSLR no less:

Fi's first tooth

The third first of this week occurred earlier this morning. After nearly 5 full days of learning to roll over, and pretty much scooting herself wherever she wants to go, Fiona was rolling over pretty frequently this morning. She typically gets upset when laying on her stomach for to long, leading to us eventually assisting her in rolling back over. That assistance won’t be needed much longer. Fi rolled herself over from back to belly, and within seconds, rolled herself back to her stomach, all without getting upset.

We can’t wait to see what the rest of the weekend has in store for us.

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Our Sweet Little Valentine

8th February 2010

When I see this picture, I can hear Frank Sinatra singing My Funny Valentine.  This Valentine’s Day is like no other before it for Amy and I.  WIth Fiona around, every day is Valentine’s Day.  While we make our plans to surprise one another in some small way, we conspire as to what we’re going to do for our little valentine.  What will she wear?  Where will we go?  What should we get her?

We plan on visiting family this coming weekend, and sharing our little valentine. Though Sunday is Valentine’s Day,  for us, every day before and after will still be Valentine’s Day.

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