Summary of Life with Juju...

August 3rd...very exciting to plan our day for Juju's arrival. Her mother and father, of course, were there as well as Poppy, Gigi, Gram and Grandpa. A little unusual for such a crowd. Juju is very red and not much hair, but very beautiful. She is a little scrawny, but had a tough couple of weeks before getting here. The amniotic fluid was low and Juju was breach until the week before. She is awesome to look at.

August 4th...Aunt Jami and I go to the hospital to see Juju and her mommy. Mommy is trying to figure out how to nurse her. The nurses check in often. Juju wears the cutest little skull cap. She makes a lot of faces while sleeping.

August 5th...Juju came home! Aunt Jami got to come along, too.

August 6th...Juju was unusually fussy and did not want to eat. She felt a little warm and her mother took her temp. The doctor said she should go straight to the emergency room at the children's hospital. They decided to keep her because of the fever. This was one of the scariest times in our life.

August 7th...many tests and needles used on Juju. She is tough just like her Aunt Jami. Not much room for her mom and dad to sleep, but they were so worried they didn't sleep much. All tests coming back negative, so far.

August 8th...doctors decide Juju is dehydrated and is fine otherwise and send her back home. After many prayers, we are very excited.

August 14th...Aunt Jami had to go back home. We all went to the airport-it was quite sad.

September 3rd...Juju is one month old now. She already has put on enough weight to get a second chin.

September 19th...it is amazing how strong Juju is. She can hold up her head. Poppy and I stayed with her so her mommy and daddy could go out on a date. Her mommy had a list a mile long for do's and don'ts as if I were a teenager babysitting for the first time. I forgot to ask if it was okay to bring my date with me (Poppy).

September 23rd... Juju, her mommy and me go to St. Louis Bread Co. for lunch. Of course, that is the exact moment she has a big poop! Juju that is.

October 12th...Poppy and I leave for Galena for our anniversary. It was hard to go that many days without seeing her, but we came back on the 16th.

October 13th...I found a stuffed lamb that has a pouch you heat up to soothe upset tummies. It has lavender in it. Juju has been suffering from a gassy tummy.

October 14th...Happy Anniversary to Juju's parents and Gigi and Poppy. 3 years for parents, 31 years for grandparents.

October 16th...Juju comes to spend the night at our house. We are so excited! We have a Pack n Play for her to sleep in. I sleep in the B&B room with her. It's been a long time since we had a baby sleep at our house.It's so cool, her diapers have a stripe down the middle that tells me if she's wet or not. I think green means "wet". I will have to study that one. I give her a bath in our kitchen sink and a big sponge for her to sit on. She loves the water. She has lavender scented bath wash. She loves it.

October 17th...we were going to take Juju to church with us, but we got no sleep and decided there are too many germs there. When she smiles, her whole face lights up.

October 24th...Juju, her mommy, Poppy and I go to Soulard Market. Lots of weird people and weird things there. The best ever Bloody Mary's you will ever drink. We got some great buys on vegetables and some fruits. Too many people want to touch Juju and that does not go well with any of us. We go to lunch at an outdoor cafe and Poppy woofs down his food way before we do. We put Juju in the Bjorn (a backpack for a kid basically) and put her on the front of Poppy. He walks around the block while Juju's mommy and I finish lunch. It was really cute.

November 3rd...Juju's mom has to go to school to get caught up on what is going on so she can be prepared when she goes back permanently on the 5th. I go to Juju's house and sit in the rocking chair I used to rock her mother in. What a great feel to hold a baby and rock her sound asleep.
November 5th...Juju's mommy has to go to work and we are alone all today. Her daddy does a great job getting her up, dressed and fed before I get there. We all are going to have to get used to this schedule.

November 10th...Back at Juju's house. It's hard not to just sit around and stare at her. She makes so many different faces while she sleeps. She now has 3 chins!

November 12th...Poppy came over to lunch with me and Juju. Well, she had her own lunch. Her mom pumps breast milk every morning for her. She has the good stuff! Poppy sits and stares at her, too. I bought a book for her that makes noises and sings songs. She starts kicking her feet when the song comes on. She is so smart!

November 20th...Juju is so strong. She lifts her head and when I hold her upright it is as if she is trying to stand up.We look at a couple of different books. It seems as though Juju likes cows. Her mother always did.The book that sings is all about animals and makes the sounds the animals make. Juju loves this book.

November 25th...Juju and her mom come over to my house to help bake for Thanksgiving. While I feed and rock Juju, her mommy and Poppy decide they are going to make the Bon Bons to help me out. It makes me nervous when they have too much fun. The Bon Bons were good but looked a little weird.

November 26th...Juju and family go to a stupid restaurant for Thanksgiving dinner and then everyone comes to our house for desserts. As usual, I have way too many desserts. Juju got a little tired of being passed around to everyone and it was a little noisy. All in all, she did really well under all these circumstances. Better than me!

November 27th...For some reason, this is called Black Friday. Juju's dad had to work, but her mommy, Poppy and me did not. So we went to lunch. Juju sleeps so well in her carseat. She woke up in a great mood. She has a wonderful smile.

December 4th...Juju is getting more active and needs a lot of entertaining.We went through 7 different books and she seemed interested in all of them. She already has so many toys it's hard to know where to start. She has this thing on the floor with an arch over it that she is starting to like a little. She can kick, which she does a lot. She turns from her back to her stomach and she hates being on her stomach.

December 9th...We have been giving prune juice to Juju...yuck! But, it is very effective. We looked at books, played with a piano and sang a few songs. I can't seem to remember all the words to the kid's songs so I make them up. Juju doesn't know...or care.

December 15th...Aunt Jami is coming home tomorrow for Christmas. She will not even recognize Juju she has changed so much. Juju is growing longer faster than wider so she has lost a chin and is back down to 2. Big poop is celebration for a big bath. She has lavender scented bath wash.She tries to grab the stream of water coming out of the faucet. We tried the excersaucer today. She's not very impressed.
December 16th...GREAT DAY! We are picking Aunt Jami up from the airport. It will be a long day so I try to make sure she gets plenty of Gigi naps. She loves to ride in the car and sleeps as soon as the engine starts so we should be good.

December 17th...Aunt Jami and I meet Juju and her daddy at Cracker Barrel parking lot. We go into Cracker Barrel to eat breakfast and Juju slept through all of it. Her mommy still has to work today and tomorrow so that stinks. But, she will get quality time with Aunt Jami. By the end of the day, Jami has a great day with Juju. It is so sad she lives so far away.

December 18th...Jami helps me with baking for tomorrow. We are having the whole family Christmas on Saturday night at a hall. It will be nice to see a lot of the older aunts we only see at weddings and funerals. Juju is really good while we bake. It's nice to take a break with her and enjoy her between all the work.Aunt Jami, mommy and Poppy go on their traditional Christmas shopping trip and it is time to go back to work and Juju wants no part of laying in her bed, being in the bumbo or being on the floor so I get a big box and put a quilt in it. I put her in it with pillows around her and books. I got a great picture of her "reading" a book. She totally loved the box. Her mom...not so much!

December 19th...Juju not so impressed with the entire evening of a huge group of Italians getting together and being loud. The furnace was turned way up so she got really hot and did not want anyone to hold her but her mother and me. Her mom was working hard to calm her and not able to enjoy everyone so once I got the food situated I took over and rocked her until she fell asleep. We put her in her carseat and tried to put her as far from the noise as possible. She and her parents spent the night at our house so we could have our Christmas morning together the next day.

December 20th..."Faux" Christmas morning. All the stockings are hung, everyone except Uncle Chris is there. Aunt Jami were so thoughtful with her gifts for each and every person. Juju got a cow book. She loved it. She also got a stuffed Murry.We had a big breakfast and afterward everyone wanted to take a nap. Gigi, by then, was like death warmed over with a bad cold. It was hard to stay away from Juju especially when she looks at you and smiles.

December 23rd...sad, sad day. We have to take Aunt Jami back to the airport. Juju does not realize this though. We talk to Juju all the time about Aunt Jami. Her mommy put a Christmas tree ornament on the tree with Aunt Jami's picture.

December 25th...Merry Christmas! Juju has her daddy's family and me and Poppy over for dinner for Christmas. She got so many toys and cool stuff. She is a very lucky little girl. She got a little overwhelmed by all the people and all the noise so she was a little fussy.

December 28th...Amazing how many things you need for a baby these days. Juju has swings and saucers and books and stuffed animals. We have a bin just just for all her toys and 2 drawers for other stuff in the B&B.

December 29th...Gigi and Poppy are on their way to a cabin in the woods for New Year's Eve. We will miss Juju and of course Emmi, too. Hard to be away from her.

January 1, 2010...Happy New Year!

January 5th...Juju's mom back at work. Juju's Gigi back to hang out. She is getting so active. I have "stations" set up for her. One station is the excersaucer, then the floor mat, then the bumbo and piano, then the swing and we throw a book in between each station. So, we start going from station to station to see what mood she's in today.She will almost reach toward me now. How cool.

January 6th...new rules-again. No rocking her to sleep for naps. I have to feed her and then go lay her down for a nap-no matter what! No rocking! But, I love to rock her. But, I will (mostly) follow the rules. The rules sometimes need to be adjusted but I will do my very best.

January 8th...Juju is not in a good mood today. Her dad said that Monday she was
"inconsoleable". Ditto. It breaks my heart to see real tears from her. Maybe a nice hot bubble bath will relax her. It would me! Once in a while she would look up with a big smile. Can't be mad at that!

January 9th...Juju spends the night again. We meet her and her mommy for lunch at SLBCo and we take her home with us. She is still not in a good mood. Poppy feeds her and rocks her to sleep but it doesn't last. I gave her a bath and fed her, swaddled her and then fed her again and then put her to bed. This is the first time I did not sleep in the room with her, but I have a baby monitor I put next to my head and that was not smart. I heard every little grunt and gassy sound she made. She woke up at 1:00, 3:00, 4:00 and 6:45 for good. She had a very we diaper most of these times, but her mommy says that she will whimper and then go right back to sleep. I will know better next time.

January 12th...Juju still not very good humored. She has a little bit of a cold so she is congested. It's hard to suck on a bottle and be stuffed up. I rocked her after feeding her lunch and she just laid there staring at me for a half an hour. I knew she didn't feel well. Even though she didn't feel well, she could still give a big smile once in a while. Irresistible!

January 13th...Juju had an awesome day! She was taking a nap at 9:00 when I got there. She then got up around 9:45 and we went through 3 books and played with Mutton. She hung out in her jumping swing for a little while. I tied toys to the straps that she likes. She had lunch and then stayed in bed for almost 3 hours. This is unheard of. I kept checking on her to make sure she was okay. She would wake up, play with her binkie and fall back asleep. Even Rosco, the dog, was concerned about her. He kept walking through her room to check on her.

You are now as caught up with Juju as I am.