8 weeks, 4 vaccines, 2 temper tantrums, and one date

anna jae is 8 weeks old today!! and the poor kid had to celebrate with her first round of vaccines.

i want to do a recap of the past week or so...

anna's first tantrum(s)
oh yes, this kid is starting early. she has officially given us a first look at her temper tantrums. granted, at this stage, it's all about a newborn's need to be held NOW, but still, it's not a pleasant view into the future.

last week, anna cried a couple of times when she was put down to be changed. the cry was new though -- louder, and with a screech involved. a piercing screech. i couldn't tell if it was just that she wanted to be picked up and held, or if she was over-hungry at the moment. well, i got my answer on friday... my mom and i took her down to seaside, nj to visit some family friends, and on the way back, she started to cry in her carseat. then the cries got more intense. i decided to sit in the back with her to keep her calm. when i got back there and i started to soothe her, she started to screech again. i had told my mom about this new cry earlier that day, and when she heard it, she said, "THAT'S a temper tantrum!" oy. all we need is a kid that will throw tantrums, right? ha! i was able to soothe her, but she did it again after we switched cars and i headed back to brooklyn. man, this pretty little girl can scream.

mom and dad's first date night!
yep. dave and i got to go out on a date! i had been getting more than a bit baby-worn, so my parents and grandma offered to babysit for us on saturday night while dave and i went out. we were so excited about this, we talked about it all week.

i wanted to go to dinner and a movie. sounds passé, but honestly, we can't go to a movie with anna. so we decided that slumdog millionaire was our choice, and i found a theater that was playing it not far from pj clarke's, where we wanted to have dinner. well, we drove in, and after we parked the car, we found out that the theater wasn't playing it after all. eek! i was kinda sad, but we decided to go to dinner and then decide what we wanted to do.

we had the most wonderful dinner. we ordered the raw bar sampler and a bottle of wine -- two things i hadn't been able to have in almost a year! -- and then some yummy burgers. the conversation was great, we got to relax and be adults... granted, we talked mostly about anna, but that was ok. she wasn't sitting right next to us, or nursing from me at the moment. it was the first time i had been away from anna since she was born, and it was heavenly.

realizing that a theater nearby was playing coraline, we opted to go see that instead. when i called from the theater to check on anna, my mom said that she wasn't sleeping. crazy kid hadn't slept all day! so i said she should sleep after her 8:30 feeding... well, we called on the way home, and she STILL wasn't sleeping!! she wasn't being difficult, but i was worried we were in for a fit later on as a result.

when we got back, dave dropped me off first to go look for a spot. i came in, said hello to everyone, and then picked up anna to say hi. she immediately put her head down on my chest and got quiet. my mom exclaimed, "i've been trying to get her to do that all night!" aw, anna missed me! it was enough to make me cry. though, as i explained to her at that moment, not enough to keep me from going out again. =) still, it reminded me of the magic of having a child, which can get lost so easily in the daily chores and frustrations. that brought me back to our little private heaven.

anna's first shots...
anna jae received her first round of vaccines today. while the rest of her 2-month checkup went well (she's now 9 lbs 14 ounces, and 22 inches long), the vaccines were awful. poor kid was all content, lying on the table and discovering everything around her. then mommy held her arms and made sure she had her pacifier in her mouth while the kind nurse gave her her first dose of outside pain. oh man, my heart broke for her. she went from happy to so very, very upset in a split second. she screamed with each one (remember that screech?), and couldn't stop crying and screaming even after they were done. i held her for a bit to calm her down, then got her dressed and put her in my babyhawk. thank god i brought that, because i think being held next to me was the only thing that was going to really make her feel better at that point.

i don't get riled up by anna's crying anymore, as most of the time she's just fine. but this time, since i knew she was in pain, i wanted to cry right along with her.

plus, i had a migraine all day (yes, they're back), so that didn't help.

anna is sleeping now, hopefully will wake soon for a feeding, and then i'm sure will sleep more. i hope that tomorrow she'll be better.