Amelia on Amelia Island and other adventures

Amelia went the furthest from her home that she has ever been in her brief life when she traveled with us to Waycross, GA and then on to Amelia Island in northern Florida. Amelia arrived for her first visit to Big Momma and Big Daddy Gillis’ house in Waycross on October 12th. Oh yeah, for those of you outside of the southern states “Big Momma and Big Daddy” is common term for grandparents. So it isn’t just used in movies with Martin Lawrence. Amelia was in Waycross to attempt to upstage the wedding of family friend Erin Conner - not really. Of course Amelia couldn't really upstage a bride and groom, but she was one of the main attractions at the reception as pictures can prove. On Sunday Amelia visited the Golf Club for more introductions to the Waycross scene during lunch there.

After time in Waycross, Amelia left Georgia for the first time when she crossed into Florida. Soon Amelia was on her namesake island, Amelia Island. While on the island she stayed at the family beach house. There near the waters edge, she experienced the sound of the ocean and sunrise feedings. Trips into the island town of Fernandina Beach were times to sleep while being wheeled around town or carried into shops. After a week at the beach and more introductions to new friends and family in Waycross she came back to her crib in Atlanta.

See the flickr link for more of the story and photos of the events.

Amelia meets her Mimi

Amelia met her grandmother Witte back on October 4th. I think we have settled on my mother being Mimi to Amelia. My grandmother on my mother’s side was known as Mimi to me. This was a good time for the introduction as Amelia has become more expressive. She smiles, raises her eyebrows and at times makes small sounds of happiness. On my mother’s first meeting Amelia was all smiles.

During my mother’ stay; Amelia made her first trip to church. She experienced the Life Teen mass a good thirteen years before her true time to participate with the cathedral teens. She made it through mass with a little rocking.

Please see the pictures of Amelia’s Mimi’s visit on the flickr.com website. The link is on the right sidebar of this page.

Amelia's Day at the River

In an effort to get Amelia used to traveling around in the car and so she could get some sunshine, we traveled into the northern suburbs of Atlanta to walk along the Chattahoochee River this afternoon. The City of Roswell, GA has a great park along the river that suited us just fine. We wheeled Amelia in her stroller down paved trails along this long stretch of the Chattahoochee that is deep and rather placid compared to other areas of Atlanta’s main river. Crew teams for the local colleges practice in this area. There is a small paddlewheel boat that navigates this area and today it was full of kids for some sort of private party. Amelia didn’t really notice all this beauty and activity around her she was lulled to sleep by wheels of her stroller rolling on the pavement.

Be sure to see the flickr.com site link on the top right side of this page for more more pictures.I will say though, I have run of space on flickr for this month so in October I will add more.

Amelia now home after hospital stay

Amelia is now at home after having surgery early Sunday to correct the condition of Pyloric Stenosis. Following the surgery she had a three day stay at Children’s Health Care of Atlanta. Pyloric stenosis is a narrowing of the pylorus, the lower part of the stomach through which food and other stomach contents pass to enter the small intestine. When an infant has pyloric stenosis, the muscles in the pylorus have become enlarged to the point where food is prevented from emptying out of the stomach.

I had the same condition when I was an infant. She came through the twenty minute surgery well. We had to spend time in the hospital make sure she could take food in successfully after surgery. Hopefully we can return to normal, whatever normal is.

Bath Time

To give Amelia some idea that bedtime is coming we have bath time. This happens at 8:30 PM each night. As seen here Amelia has just come out of the water and is warm and dry as she is wrapped in towels. From here it is upstairs to feeding time which ends with sleep - we hope.

Amelia Meets Her Cousins

The next generation held their first meeting when Amelia and Adeline came together. Of course they had some help in meeting. Anna’ second cousin Nena brought Adeline over for them both to meet Amelia for the first time.

Three Weeks

Amelia is at three weeks now and she has her own TV station - well sort of. We purchased a baby monitor that has a camera and video monitor. A small camera on the rail of her crib broadcasts to our room a few feet away. At night we can see from a distance when her little head moves giving us advance warning that she is about to want our full attention. Are we losing sleep watching Amelia TV? Yes, maybe some.

Last week we had Laura Hunter with "Moms on Call" here at the house. Laura is a nurse, mother of five, and an infant care consultant. Beyond tips on bathing and nail trimming, she gave us tips on putting Amelia on a schedule. I know it is tough being schedule our entire lives, even at three weeks, but us sleepy parents want some structure please. Laura has a book out that says babies thrive on routine. 6 AM-feed, 7 AM-sleep, 9 AM- feed, and so on is kind of how it goes. Laura has her own blanket swaddle technique to calm the baby. The swaddle is nothing new, but the white noise is a newer technique. We have a “noise generator” with various sounds like a heartbeat, a waterfall, and the one we use the most, a solid noise that sounds similar to a radio between stations. Combined with the swaddle and the white noise she calms down for sleep much faster than letting her wiggle her way to a partially sleepless night. All these things put together are said to be a womb-like atmosphere that the baby feels calmed by. It seems odd, it works most of the time; however I will admit Amelia often has her own plans and cries regardless of adult calming theories.