She doesn't like Mazda

Our last full week together. I'm only partially looking forward to going back to work next week.

This last week has been a little stressful. Kelli and I have been discussing car options. My lease was ending soon. I wanted an SUV. A 2011 Ford Edge to be exact. Meanwhile Kelli is still rolling around in a 2004 Prius. The Edge would be my 3rd new car since she bought her Prius. Hmm. Couldn't do it. My conscience said she gets the next new car.

After MUCH discussion we decided to get a 2010 Prius. It's nice.

Over the last week though we have been looking at cars. We stopped by two Ford dealerships and one Toyota dealership. Natali was fine at all of them. Yesterday I stopped by a Mazda dealership to get my Mazda appraised for a trade in.

Before I went I waited for Natali to wake up from her nap. I fed her like always. No not like always.

This week Natali has been a little off. She's been taking 6-7 ounces first thing in the morning (awesome!). Every other bottle is a challenge. She takes 2 ounces...or 3...then plays with the bottle. Some time later (like right after the hour limit for the bottle) she hungry again. Between the playing and hungry again she refuses to eat.

So yesterday when she took 3 ounces I figured she was done. I left right away for Mazda. It's 13 minutes away. After we got there she was pissy. Hungry likely. Thankfully I was able to give them all the info before she got pissy.

While the inspected my car Natali and I walked around the lot outside. She was not happy.

Once we left she was pissy till I started driving. She then slept. Once back at home she took 2 more ounces.

Not sure what her deal is this week. It's not the formula as she takes the entire bottle non-stop in the mornings. Hopefully this will pass.

Anyways last night we went to a Toyota dealership. Natali was a trooper for the full 3 1/2 hours we were there. She only got pissy for about 10 minutes. Beyond that she was chllin.

We now have two Prius...a 2004 with 80,000 miles (my new car) and a 2010 with 160 miles (Kellis new ride). No more Mazdas for us.

Bananas

Natali is 4 1/2 months old. Each time I pick her up I am amazed at how much she has grown.

My sister in law made Natali a square pillow thingy (I am sure there is a real name for it). Natali likes to play with it. We will put her on it and she will roll to one side and laugh. She gets the idea that if she moves one way or the other something will happen.

When we put her on her side she appears to be abel to control her movements as she will balance or push forward or backward. Small steps.

Kelli and I decided to keep Christmas simple this year. We have spent enough money in the last four months. No need to go into debt unneccesarily. Next year will be bigger.

We tried feeding Natali a banana. That's the food of the week. She is eating it well. Doesn't seem to be overjoyed by the sweetness. No allergic reactions either. Both good.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2J5so7Kvk5g

The embedded video has been acting funny lately, if it doesn't work click on it twice and it will open in a new window.

We tested out a 2010 Prius yesterday. Kelli really liked it. I tried for about 5 minutes to get the car seat installed. Gave up. Very tight fit. More so the our current Prius. It's still in the running, but...hmmm.

Kelli and I are a great couple because we are so different. We had a new car conference last night. New plan is to buy something we can pay off in 4 years. That puts all of the cars I currently want out of the running. The search continues.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas. I am very fortunate to be able to spend Natali's first Christmas at home with her. Here are a few of her Christmas photos.

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It gets better

Natali is 190,080 minutes old. Most people use months. That's so cliche. Fine she is 3,168 hours old. Still not happy? Bleh she is 4 month 10 days old. Done.

It seems everyday we spend together is better than the day before. I'm sure it's a combination of her getting older and us getting to know each other.

Not tracking her bottles and diapers is going okay. It has lead to a few surprises.

For a while she has been a 4 ounce bottle taker with 5 every now and then. I would stress over half an ounce left in the bottle.

Lately she has been taking the full four ounces...and asking for more. There has been much less waste. This morning for example she took the base 4 ounce bottle and then slid the bottle back for another 3. That's right folks, 7 ounces in under 25 minutes. A new record.

Still one the fence about what vehicle Natali will be rolling in next year. I'm looking at the entire ownership cost, not just the price of the car.

Car insurance can really bite you. We use Progressive and they have a pretty straightforward system to estimate the cost to replace a vehicle. Some vehicles like the 2011 Ford Edge cost less to insure than Kelli's 2004 Prius or my 2008 Mazda5. One would assume a newer vehicle is more. Nope. I've crossed two vehicles off my list that cost less than the Ford Edge or Kia Optima, but cost much more to insure. Like so much more to insure it doubled the cost of our policy! I wonder how many people check out insurance cost before buying a vehicle.

I'm in no rush though. Back in November Natali and I went out a lot during the week. Not so much anymore. The cost of going out exceeds the benefits. Even with getting 26MPG a trip to the mall cost about $4 a day. That times say 4 times a week is $16 X 4 weeks a month is $64....not a lot of money, but it adds up. Instead we have fun at home and go for walks. I cram all our outings into one big trip to save on gas. I have another month before I get a paycheck. My bank account is about to throw on the low fuel light. Gotta replenish before I splurge on a car.

Finally, Kelli and I aren't doing much for Christmas. We decided to not go into debt buying things we really don't need. Natali as increased our expenses enough, plus she has no idea what Christmas is.

Until yesterday there wasn't a single hint of Christmas in our house. My dad sent us stockings to hang from the fireplace, one for each of us. Somehow we already had 3 hooks from the fireplace. Kelli thinks when we first moved in she put a hook up for each of us plus Lilo. Hmmm. Whatever the reason, Natali has her own stocking.

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Better

Natali was stuffy all weekend. I bought babyrub....which is a Vicks product for babies versus the adult Vicks rub. I'm glad I did some research as the adult stuff is way too powerful for babies skin and lungs. It helped a little. The saline solution helped a little. Tonight we got a humidifier on advice from our friend Kerry. I did my research and settled on a Safety 1st Ultrasonic 360 Degree Humidifier.

I put it in her room about 30 minutes before I put her down. I checked on her about an hour later and she was breathing much easier. No stuffiness. I'm happy...and she's sleeping better.

The website has an all new look. I am sure regular visitors noticed. The Byrdintheoven.com name will stay for a while...at least until May. I will decided then if I want to renew it or not. This current design took me about 6 hours of work until I was happy. I went thru at least 4 other templates.

Natali has outgrown her jacket. Might go shop for one tomorrow. We have just two more weeks together until she heads to daycare and I head back to work.

Will be big changes for all of us.

Cousins Share!

Over the weekend in Sacramento, my niece Haley was sick. Jami (my sister in law/Haleys mom) and Peggy (my mother in law), tried to keep Haley away from Natali. Didn't work. Natali is all congested. The award for first germs that caused Natali to get visibly and audibly sick goes to Haley. Accepting the award for Haley will be Jami. It was bound to happen I guess. I'm not upset about it....although initially I thought it was an attack from Haley to remain top grand daughter. Better now when I am home to care for her than a month from now (when I am certain she will start getting sick more often).

I know babies can't take Tylenol Cold and Flu (although there is a large market for a baby version...just sayin). Last night I heard her moving around in bed much more than normal and I could hear her congested breathing.

When I went down the hall I found her unswaddled (I assume she had REALLY been struggling) and just squirming around a lot.

I brought her to the couch and had a moment of clarity....I had an unopened bottle of saline solution! About a year ago I bought it when I had allergy problems but didn't know it. I thought I bought a mist but instead I bought a spray. The spray is more of a drip....but great for babies.

Thankfully it had not expired yet (how does salt water expire?). With Natali on her back I inserted the tip in her nose and gently sprayed.  I could tell it went in as she smacked her lips with the salty taste in her throat/mouth. Much better.

She was now wide awake...at 1:30AM. I tried to bring her to our bed...she was talking and kicking. Down to the guest bedroom we went.

I had sealed off the guest bedroom weeks ago after my mother in law left. Sealed off meaning no heat. It was cold. No matter what I did I couldn't get warm. Natali had an idea...for me to walk my rear to the kitchen and make her a bottle! Fine. Done.

She slept for about 2 hours. I shivered. The rest of the house was warm, just not this room. At 4:20AM I gave up and we both went back to the main bedroom and slept warmly.

This morning she is a little better. I reapplied the saline solution. We will see how it goes.

Second Feeding…much better

So I followed the directions on the box of rice cereal for "babies first meal". Crap. No good. It was so watery it went all over her face.

I improvised and made it a little thicker...much better. Natali now sucks on the spoon and swallows the meal. She is an intelligent little girl as several times she grabbed the spoon and put the food in her mouth herself. I held on as to not let her choke herself. Natali also tries (and occasionally does) hold the bottle herself as well.

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Still working on a feeding plan for solids. I am going to start with once a day for a while and see how it goes.