Colorado 2013- Denver

We made it to Colorado!

We had one happy girl at the Austin airport- Iyla loved watching all of the people around us:

'Where is my plane?' 

We had a one hour delay and hoped that would mean a good nap for Iyla on the plane.

We took the opportunity during the delay to practice 'fetch' with Iyla, who is really getting this crawling thing down!

When we finally boarded, Iyla passed out within moments of takeoff. Success!

She slept around 40 minutes, and was happily all smiles once she awoke:

Upon arrival to Denver and two hours past her bedtime, this little lady was a trooper staying up to meet her Denver family. It was instant love with her cousin Cohen- who couldn't stop kissing her! So cute.

Eventually Iyla very sweetly and deliberately told me how "done" she was:

Late night Boo-boo right before bed:

The next morning, Iyla greeted her new city:

Good morning Denver!

She hadn't slept very well the night before, which is par for the course when we travel. She usually takes 1-2 days to adjust to sleeping in her Pack n Play in new environments. I had purchased a special mattress for the trip, hoping it would help make the flimsy PnP more comfortable. 

I had morning duty, so I packed Iyla into the baby Beco and headed down to the hotel breakfast buffet:

I was pleased to discover these great high chairs at breakfast! Iyla and I were both fans:

The hotel eggs were molded into cube form. Kind of gross to see, but Iyla loved them and kept signing 'more!'

'Egg cubes? More, more, MORE!'

Our hotel had complimentary duck families available for kids, and since Iyla LOVES ducks, this was perfect! Check out the names.... in real life, my sweet BC is named "Lance." Ha!

'Papa, is that you?'

Little tree hugger during play time in the lobby

She kept saying "quack, quack, quack!" 

This is the first word she has repeatedly said in its correct context.

After breakfast, we set off to the absolutely gorgeous Denver Botanical Gardens with Iyla's Aunt Amy & cousin Cohen:

We made a few attempts at a family photo:

Cohen's little brother- our new nephew- will be making his debut in January:

Roo rockin' her pregnancy! She is adorable.

After the gardens, we had some down time back at the hotel. Iyla somehow figured out how to play movie previews on my phone. I have no idea where that app is or how she did it!

'Yes, I am a baby genius.'

After Iyla's afternoon nap, we packed up and strolled the downtown Denver area before meeting up with my cousin for dinner:

My long legged loves

Iyla was so overtired here but still such a trooper!

Dinner with my cousin Chris. Iyla was no longer hiding how tired she was.

Happily, Iyla slept super well that night- 6:45pm-5:30am straight. She awoke a few times wimpering, but put herself quickly back to sleep. When she awoke to nurse at 5:30am, she decided it was time to get up for the day (it was 6:30 Austin time, which is her normal wake up time). 

We had been hoping to leave for Vail at her morning nap time, around 9am. I set off for breakfast at 8:15 (BC had morning duty)- and when I returned, I saw my loves like this:

Iyla was not down with waiting to nap. 

She had some serious sleep to catch up on from the previous day!

Stay tuned for updates from the Vail leg of our journey....

Big Girl Updates- 18 Weeks

Iyla Grace was 18 weeks old yesterday (on the 18th! A 'golden' week milestone) and has been making some amazing 'big girl' strides lately.

Over the weekend she worked on napping flat on her back:

On the studio kitchen carpet, no less....

Attended her first SXSW music festival:

She was clearly impressed by the bands 

Dressed in a little green to celebrate her 1st St. Patty's Day:

Irish Jig!

A little River Dancing on the new quilt that my friend Jen made for her. 

We love it!

She also made a very successful transition to sleeping flat on her back in her Pack n Play! We have 2 nights under our belts now... and so far, so good. I've been keeping her swaddled, as I don't think that inhibits her ability to move her neck and don't want to spring too many changes on her at once. She's been going to sleep around 7:30 and is up to nurse around 12:30, 4, & 6, then up for the day by 7:30. She has been falling back asleep pretty quickly, and I think enjoying this change!

Yesterday in celebration of her 18 weeks, Iyla mastered a new skill: grabbing her feet! And it is all.she.does now:

 Wahoo! Connecting the dots. I'm wondering how long it will be before she figures out how to get those toes in her mouth!

She has to concentrate SO hard while she does this- she grabs, fusses, concentrates, then grabs again.

When she wasn't catching her feet yesterday, she was either crying or sleeping. The day went like this: nap, wake up crying, nurse, grab toes, nap, repeat. She was definitely having a growing day!

She spent a lot of time passed out in my arms

She's been working on more neck strengthening exercises like sitting in her Bumbo:

And right now- as we speak- she is trying out a big girl nap in her crib:

Aaaaaand- she's up!. Till next time....

Torti-what?

TortiCOLLIS.

It's confirmed that Iyla has Torticollis- which literally means "twisted neck." Not that this is any surprise. We've noticed from the beginning that Iyla preferred looking to her left. At her 2 month appointment I brought it up with the Pediatrician filling in for our regular one, who didn't seem to think it was a big deal (in retrospect I am a little annoyed by that- obviously we thought there was a concern, and interventions should probably have begun then). Since that appointment her tilt has become more pronounced, and when I visited our chiropractor this week he confirmed that indeed she had toriticollis, and that he wanted to now see her weekly for treatments.

So just what causes this pasta sounding ailment? With babies it can either develop in utero from being a bit cramped and having the neck tilted in one direction, or during the birth process if the neck gets strained. In both instances one side of the neck can become restricted and tight. As far as treatment goes, our Pediatrician said that one school of thought would refer her at this stage for a corrective helmet (NOOO- not the helmet!) while another school of thought opts to do daily stretching to hopefully correct the tightness. She is in the vein of following a stretching regime- and I will also continue our weekly visits to the chiropractor. I am hopeful that is all it will take!

You can see in this shot how her head shape is flat on the bottom and elongated on the top... which should hopefully normalize with sleeping flat & stretching. 

More importantly- how cute is this picture?

When we move back into our house Sunday (we have renters there now during Austin's SXSW Music Festival) another shift we'll have to make is to go cold turkey on the bed routine with no more swaddling and no more Rock n Play inclined sleeping. I expect to be a walking zombie for awhile as Iyla gets adjusted to sleeping flat on her back with occasional flailing arms waking her (this is a girl who LOVES her swaddle!). I was a big weenie when I tried to transition her to her flat Pack n Play last month- after 2 nights of poor sleep I resigned and put her back in the Rock n Play. Apparently the Rock n Play sleeper doesn't encourage her to be moving her neck around as much as she should be (first time mom FAIL) -so sadly it will be a thing of the past.

We are also supposed to have her doing tummy time a LOT more (avoiding lying her flat on her back as much as possible save for sleeping). Good thing this little one loves standing strong on her feet (which is acceptable); bad thing that she screams after about 1 minute of tummy time. We have a lot of adjusting to do!

Limiting the play time on her back will definitely be a challenge! 

She and Sam love laying on the play mat together.

This is how tummy time begins.....

And this is what happens after about one minute

I hate tummy time!

Iyla's stats, as I suspected, are still long and lean! At her 4 month appointment today she was 24 inches tall (25-50%), 10 pounds 12.2 ounces (5-10%) and her head's circumference was 15 1/4 (5-10%). And that girl was charming our Pediatrician! She was smiling, cooing and squawking away while being examined. She cried hard when her shots were administered but settled quickly once I nursed her. She was in great spirits for the first couple of hours after we got home- but had a bit of a meltdown at bedtime, prompting me to give her a very low dose of Tylenol.

A brief conversation about her doctor appointment

In other news, Iyla is rockin' some seriously ADORABLE new headbands I found on Etsy. I haven't been a fan of any head bows or head gear on her save for cute hats- but these headbands are a whole different story. I am a bit obsessed!

Melt my heart! 

And this was taken post shots- what a trooper! You can tell her eyes are a bit glazed, but she was doing everything she could to remain in good spirits. 

Can you say DROOL!?!

Yes, I am cute. Even with my drool neck.

We've been enjoying our time staying in our sweet little garage apartment. Iyla is back to bathing in her baby bathtub (there is only a shower up here)... and BC has been spearheading the bath time. She loves it!

Absolute delight for her Papa

Tomorrow we are hoping to make it out to enjoy some of the SXSW Festival action. I've purchased baby headphones, and we will make the most of the ONE baby wearing item Iyla will tolerate- my Maya Ring Sling:

Here's hoping our little one gets a good night's sleep tonight so she can be back to her joyful spirits tomorrow!