Iris' 1st Easter and more

Since Iris turned 7 months on April 22 I actually started on the blog on April 18 thinking I was ahead. That would have worked if it were not holy week. Besides the many events we attended, Holy Week ends with Easter. Holy photo opportunity! I limited the photos uploaded to 60 because there are way too many to put them all up.

Iris is growing fast and is developing a personality. We are very thankful that in general she is very happy. In addition to breast milk she has started solid foods this month which has been a whole new adventure. Her favorite so far seems to be carrots.  She has not started crawling but is starting to inch along on her belly backwards. (You can see it in the video below) She is very aware and interested in Soleil. (Soleil is less interested in her but wants her attention. )




We are in the 3rd week of our nanny share and Iris is having healthy attachment to Maria.  She is also enjoying her new friend from the other family. They may not be able to speak but they communicate.
We are very fortunate to have found an arrangement that works so well for all of us. 
We have missed having the Grandmas here but were lucky enough to have visits from Godfather Tommy and Grandpa Lou. We continue to adjust to being parents and learn from Iris every day.

As usual you can see photos of Iris on her site here http://irisgrace.shutterfly.com/pictures.

Iris is 6 months old!

Note: This was started before Iris turned 6 months and now she is almost 6.5 months. I think that is the way things will continue to be . . . .

I don't know how it happened. I turned around and Iris was 6 months old. Iris is changing at an alarming rate now. She is fully alert and making all kinds of sounds now. She has a good grip with both hands and most things she puts her hands on go in her mouth. That apparently has much to do with her teething. She is feeling them come into her jaws for sure now.  (But still a ways before we see them) She has gotten a little fussy and prefers softer things to chew on. She is rolling both directions now and pushes herself up into "cobra" position often. 

We have been blessed with Grammy JoJo for almost a month now. Iris and Grammy JoJo have been having a great time together.


It has been a challenging few weeks for us with our whirlwind lives. I was gone for 8 days working out of town for the 1st time since Iris was born. It was harder than I ever thought it would be. I don't know how Alisa would have dealt if her mom wasn't with Iris and her. Now that I am back we are dealing with the inevitable. Grammy JoJo will return to her life in So Cal and we have to find child care for Iris. Its hard to find someone "good enough" for your child.
Note about the video. There is no audio because *%*^* youtube strips out the audio if you use commercially available music.

 While it is hard to find someone "good enough" for your child, we believe we have found our "Mary Poppins."  Actually, her name is Maria! We are a part of what is called a "nanny share." For those of you who have no idea what that means (we didn't at first!), it is a cadre of families who share one nanny . We are lucky to live in a an area where not only are there many resources to seek out child care (Berkeley Parents Network, Alameda Parents Network, Bananas referrals in Oakland & of course, word of mouth) but there are many working families in similar predicaments. It is another transition for our little family  but we believe it will be a positive one and we are MOST thankful that we could have family be with Iris in her first 6 months of life! The family we will be sharing with has a darling 4 month old and we are looking forward to Iris hanging with her new friend.

Iris had her first bites of organic whole grain rice cereal  mixed with breastmilk this week. This was a VERY big deal and we are easing very slowly into this new territory. She is almost able to sit up on her own but still needs some propping . She is a great sleeper but definitely likes to be a part of the party!

You can see pictures on her site by clicking here