Photo Shoot Time!

Gwen got a new headband last week, so of course we had to do a photo shoot:

My Capricorn Babe

As if little Punky didn't look enough like her dad, it seems that she has his personality traits too! :)  How Justin is not a Capricorn, I have no idea.  (not sure why this is in caps, I swear I'm not yelling at you)

Let me first say that I'm not the type to always be reading my horoscope, but I do believe that I fit the Libra description.  I looked at the horoscope below when I was pregnant with Gwen and I had to laugh to myself.  In the past couple of weeks, numerous people have told me that she's a very serious baby.  While she does smile a lot, I have to agree with them!  She's always looking around, quietly, taking everything in.  A very mellow and calm baby she has always been.

Tell me this isn't Justin's child:

"About the Capricorn Child

Geared for Success

Napping, pretending, playing dress-up or hide-and-seek -- these may not be high on your little Capricorn's agenda. This child is too driven to waste time on anything so frivolous! 

Capricorn kids tend to be practical and reward-oriented from an early age, and they're willing to work hard for the results they seek. They might know early on what they want to be when they grow up. And if they're slow to develop or choose a particular interest, don't worry; Capricorns improve with age. 

Capricorn children are planners. Success and approval are among their primary needs. They want other people to see how smart, hardworking, and competent they are, so be sure to reward your little Capricorn frequently. 

Giving your Capricorn child an allowance and increasing it with each birthday is a good way to teach her about the value of money. Don't be surprised if she squirrels it away in her piggy bank and uses it only for the occasional, much-coveted purchase. 

Your Capricorn child will make a wonderful older sibling, because this sign possesses a natural sense of responsibility. Try not to load her up with too much responsibility at a young age, however, no matter how well she seems to handle it. Even the most serious children need to play and have downtime! 

Also, try to teach your child the benefits of flexibility. Otherwise, it's all too easy for your little Capricorn to slip into one rigid way of seeing and being in the world."



- Taken from Baby Center




Aunt Krissy came to visit us today!  It was a much needed sunny day, after a week full of rain.

Grammy K, Playdates, & Sleep!

Mom was here during the beginning of the week and she was so excited to spend some time with little G.  We walked around Salem on Tuesday and went to lunch at Tavern in the Square.  Gwen was a champ and even took a little cat nap during our walk.
The babe has been nursing a lot less these days (she's down to about 5x/day as opposed to 10-12 in the beginning), which makes it a lot easier to take her out for longer periods of time.  It's been such a luxury for me to be able to spend some extra time with her and not have to rush back home (or into the backseat of the car) to feed her.

Here's a pic of G waiting for grammy to arrive, wearing the sweater from her and grandpa k 

We went to our nursing group per usual on Wednesday.  I never have any pics because moms are always feeding their babies during it, and well, it would just be weird if I pulled out my phone and started taking pics.  We've been going to this group almost every week since Gwen was about 5 weeks old.  There are always some new faces, but a lot of people I've seen on a very consistent basis and it's so cool to see all of the changes in these babies in such a short period of time.  Gwen loves tummy time during group because she's so entertained checking out all of the other babies.
Afterwards, we were invited to one of the other moms' houses for a snack.  Small world - it turns out I know her husband, he was one of my gym members at work!


On Thursday, after Yoga (there's only one class left, which I'm pretty bummed about), we hung out with a great group of mommas and babes.  I was debating whether or not I should sign up for this yoga class initially because it's about 30 minutes from our house, but I have to say that I'm very glad that I did!  The yoga itself has been a lot of fun, but I'm so happy to have met an awesome group of women and we plan on continuing to get together even after the classes have ended.  The girls - Ava, Callie, and Gwen - and the little stud, Brody(not pictured) are all very close in age too, which is a lot of fun.

Milestone:  I haven't mentioned it yet, partly because I don't want to jinx it, but Gwen has been pretty much sleeping through the night!  We put her to bed around 7:30 or 8pm and she sleeps until about 2:30 or 3am.  I know, you're probably thinking how is that sleeping through the night?! Technically, anything longer than 5hrs for a breastfed baby is considered sleeping through the night.  So really, I'm still getting up once a night before she wakes up for good around 7:30am or so, but I'll take it!

Week in Pictures

We went on a playdate with some moms from a group I joined on Meetup.  It was nice to get the kids together who are so close in age.  It was also great to be able to chat and share stories with other new moms!

The pediatrician told us to set up Gwen's highchair so she can get used to watching us eat.  She said that eventually Gwen will be trying to grab our food and that's how we'll know she's getting ready to start solids.  As of now, she just sits quietly and does her little pimp lean.

After Yoga, we went to a toy store and then grabbed some coffee with fellow Yogi Ava and her mom, Marie.  I bought a Taggie for Gwen because I heard that they're like crack for babies with all those little tags.  

We bought a Jumperoo for the little peanut.  Her feet don't touch the ground yet, but we've improvised by putting a pillow on the floor and it seems to keep her pretty entertained!

I started using Instagram this week.  If you have an iphone, it's a free download and it's like twitter, but with pictures.  I'm totally addicted.  When you download it, find me on there and follow me: lsilverio (I know, really creative).  I'm constantly posting pics of little Punky (that's what I've started calling her lately.  That, and Buggy)

she fell asleep on me like this <3 <3

On Saturday, we went to a 1st birthday party for the little girl whose parents bought my in-laws' old house.  Justin's parents have become friends with them, and they invited us because we've been wanting to get the babies together for a while.  What a fun family!  It was pretty cool going back there and seeing the changes they made to the house.

I'm trying to find a pic that I have of Justin and me standing in front of this fireplace about 8 years ago. It'd be cool to compare the 2 pics, I'll update the post if I find it!

Gwen loves her papa!

As we were getting ready to leave the party, I looked down at Gwen and saw that a bird had pooped on her (lol)!!  Oh well, they say it's good luck right?!

First Mother's Day!

Sunday was my first Mother's Day! Well, technically last mother's day she was a little seedling that we suspected existed.  My special day actually started on Saturday night (although I really pushed for a FULL weekend of pampering beginning Friday night hah).  Justin went out to pick up some pizza.  We were going to have it delivered, until he realized that 'Gwen' FORGOT to get me a mother's day card.  So he ran out to get the card, picked up the pizza, and surprised me with my favorite ice cream (coffee oreo with multi-colored sprinkles)!!  Nice work Justin! (ps - those are size small ice creams!)

On Sunday morning, I was greeted by my 3 favorites with my mother's day gift :)

How adorable is this!? Gwen signed the card.

Here is my gift - a sweet necklace with the initial "g" on it for Gwen.  It's so dainty and pretty, I can wear it with just about anything.  LOVE it :) 

btw - it's an etsy find which makes me love it even more.

We had a really relaxing day, Justin made me breakfast and we had a nice leisurely morning.  We were going to go into Boston but it was raining a bit and we figured it would be so hectic, so we decided against it.  I got a manicure instead.  Which, ended up being not so hot - I went to a spa...next time I'm sticking with the asians.  The lady kept telling me that the color I chose was too light (I always get the light colors and they normally come out fine), and it came out so blotchy.  Oh well, it was still nice to have some 'me' time.  After that, we went over to Nana and Papa S's for dinner.  Justin's parents and Eric and Kerri were so thoughtful and gave me mothers day cards and gifts too!  I love watching them with Gwen, and she loves visiting with them.  She was all smiles :)

four months

Happy 4 months to my baby girl!
Lately I've been thinking about the first 2 weeks after Gwen was born and how overwhelming they were.  The biggest challenge for me was that I felt like she didn't know that I was her mommy.  I know that sounds pretty crazy, especially since I'm breastfeeding and back then the girl was with me, eating [what felt like] 24/7.  At that point though, my body was still healing, and as soon as I finished feeding her I would have to immediately pass her off to Justin or my parents (who stayed with us for the first 2 weeks - thank god because I'm not sure what we would have done without them) because I was just SO exhausted.  So, although I spent so much time holding and feeding her, I was very rarely the one walking around comforting and soothing her if she was fussy.  Justin was so awesome at calming her down, and she responded so well to him it was amazing to me (I shouldn't be writing this in the past tense because she is still in awe of him. I love watching the two of them together).  My parents were also constantly holding, soothing, singing and talking to her.  Sometimes I felt like the milk machine and that's all I was there for, that's all I could physically do.

Fast forward to today, and there's no doubt in my mind that she knows I'm her mommy.  I get teary eyed just thinking about it.  Whenever someone else is holding her and she catches a glimpse of me or hears my voice, I get this huge smile from her.  Sometimes she just stares at me almost like she's looking for my reaction or approval.  The other day I was sitting on the couch eating a string cheese and watching TV and I had her in her Bumbo seat playing with her toys.  I looked over at her, and this is what I saw:

She was literally sitting there just watching me eat my string cheese and smiling!!  It was hysterical, and not to mention the best feeling in the world.
















Some milestones from the past month:

• The girl has definitely found her voice, she screeches so loudly and sometimes she'll mimic sounds that we make.  She also "sings" along to songs in the car.
• She holds up her fists and studies them, following them with her eyes.  She realizes now that she's the one who is making them move.
• She rolled over once.
• She holds her pacifier and has successfully put it in her mouth by herself! (I'm pretty sure she just got lucky that one time, but still)
• She just started waking only once per night, which makes for a very happy mommy! :)

Every day brings something new with her, and every day I love her more than I ever thought I could. <3

Update: 5.10.11
Gwen had her 4 month checkup today and her Dr had all positive things to say!  We were concerned that she may have allergies, but the pedi told me that it was highly unlikely and she didn't see any evidence of allergies.  We won't see the Dr again until her 6 month appt, so we got the go ahead to start solids soon - even though I think I'm going to wait until at least 5 months.  We'll be setting up her highchair soon so she can get the feel for sitting at the table and watching us eat.  Once she starts becoming interested in our food, we'll know that she's getting ready.
At birth, Gwen was 7lbs 3oz, 20in and today she is 13lbs 11oz (50th percentile), almost 25in (75th percentile).  Grow, baby, grow!

To the Market

On Sunday we went to the SOWA Open Market.  It's an original art and indie design market in Boston's South End.  For anyone familiar with how addictive browsing etsy.com can be, it was like that - but in person!!
I was good, and only bought one thing, but I'm planning on going back again (muaahahaha).  The Open Market is held every Sunday though October!

I bought this awesome brooch from it's sew you....

Here are a few other great finds:

I loved this necklace from c.e. golden

A girl was trying it on with this nest necklace, which was smaller and shorter, and the 2 of them looked awesome together!

I also really liked Elizabeth from looka jewelry.  She was very nice and willing to make custom pieces.  My favorites were her letter necklaces and I thought the bug jewelry was so unique! 

If one-of-a-kind handbags are your thing, there were some great ones from Becky Oh!  This linen wristlet was so pretty in person: 
















Last but not least, Nancy Reid Carr had some beautiful photographs printed on alminum!  They were really amazing in person, tough to appreciate in an online picture but they look awesome on metal.

After the market, we went to lunch at the Gaslight with Aunt Krissy <3

Creative Husband!

 Justin's photo of me won 3rd Place (out of 196 entries) in the Boston RAW photography contest for March!!  woohoooo!

I submitted the photo in March because the monthly theme was "Human Form".  Here is the photo of me at 33 weeks pregnant, and the link to the article:  Human Form: Top 10

Congrats to my talented hubby :)  Hard to believe little Gweny was in there <3

Drooly Lady

G Money's first workout

haha, this is what happens when we don't put a bib on her, 

can't wait to see what teething is going to be like!