2 Months!

Hello my sweet girl! Today, you are already two months old! I don’t even know where the time is going, but you are already growing up!

Your eyes and hair are already changing. Your hair is lightening up a lot, and I’m about 80% sure that we have a little red head on our hands! Your eye brows give it away. J Your eyes are definitely changing colors. I’m thinking they will end up brown…you already have small brown spots mixed in with the blue. I’m excited for you to have beautiful brown eyes like your Dad, but it made me tear up a little bit because it just reminded me of how fast you are growing. Your dad told me to take LOTS of pictures of your blue eyes now so that we can always remember your newborn look.

You have a lot of nicknames. We still call you our sweet girl, honey, baby, monkey, pumpkin and little lady. But we also have started calling you Banana and Nana. I’m pretty sure your Auntie Kelly started those names and they just kind of stuck.

You have been quite the traveler! In your second month we did a lot of across the state trips….which you do not love. You don’t appreciate the pressure on your little ears during the elevation change and you let us know by screaming as loud as you can. It makes Mama very worried and I made Daddy pull over several times so that I could take you out of your car seat and cuddle you until you felt better. We managed to turn a 3 hour car ride into five and a half hours…but I can’t bear to hear you cry.

Even though you don’t like traveling, we have had some pretty fun adventures! Your first trip across the state was to Chelan for the 4^th of July (your first holiday!). You loved Chelan. You spent a lot of time enjoying the outdoor weather, and napping. This was a big milestone for Mommy because I let you nap all by yourself for the first time! I had been hanging out in your room while you napped because I was too nervous to leave you alone…but I forced myself to let you nap by yourself while we were in Chelan. However, I was glued to the baby monitor like nobody’s business! J

Your second and third trips across state were for weddings. The first wedding was another big milestone for us. Not only did you get to meet most of Mommy’s best friends, but it was also your first night away from us. I was pretty nervous about it, but I managed to have a lot of fun and I heard you had lots of fun getting some quality time with Grammy and Auntie Kelly. They are some of your most favorite babysitters.

In your second month you have been increasingly more aware of things going on around you. You definitely notice when people are in the room and you quiet down when you think you hear Mommy or Daddy nearby. You make lots of eye contact with us and we can tell that you are watching our faces closely.

On July 8^th, you had your first laugh! Mommy was in the other room getting ready and Daddy was holding you and making silly sounds to try and get you to laugh…and out it came! He was so excited and yelled for me to come and watch. Of course it was a one-time deal, so I’ve been waiting for my turn to hear your sweet laugh.

You’ve changed your schedule around…which I love. In the beginning of your second month you started sleeping from 11pm to 3:45am consistently. After that you would sleep off and on every few hours or so until bedtime at 11pm again. However, this last week you have changed your schedule again. Bedtime is now anywhere from 9-10pm and you sleep until about 3am. You wake up again for the day at around 7am. Your morning nap is around 9am, afternoon nap around 1pm, and evening nap around 4pm. It comes and goes depending on what we are doing…but that’s the pattern we are seeing as of now.

When you are not napping (or eating) you are helping Mommy wedding plan! You come with me to all of my appointments and meetings. Sometimes we take Auntie Kelly with us in case you get a little fussy. We picked out your flower girl dress. It is the cutest thing I have ever seen and I can’t wait for it to come in the mail! You are going to be the belle of the ball at our wedding!

You are still loving your bouncer and swing. I only put you in the bouncer when I need to bring you with me but can’t hold you…aka the bathroom when I need to shower and get ready. You just love sitting in there and listening to Mommy sing to you. I have also been trying to get you to like your play mat. It’s hit and miss…sometimes you tolerate it for a few minutes. However, you prefer to be propped up and looking at everyone or held and do not enjoy being on your back so the play mat is not the most ideal toy for you.

Something you really love is watching T.V. This is one habit that we do not want to get into too much…but for now you really love watching the different colors and shapes across the screen. You are pretty funny though…we try and block the T.V. from your view and you will move your little head up and down trying to figure out where it went!

This month you took your first nap in your crib! You have definitely out-grown your bassinet by now and I have loved having you sleep next to me every night. I wanted to try out your crib to see how you did. You seemed to enjoy it enough. Apparently we are supposed to start sleep training in the next month or two and I am not looking forward to that. I’m going to miss my baby!

You’ve been in great health. The only thing that seems to bother you is some bouts of gassiness and mild cases of diaper rash. Both things make you cry out in pain, which makes me so upset. I’m working on changing my diet, to help reduce your gassiness. I also have a faint suspicion that you might have started teething. I asked the doctor about it and she said that we wouldn’t see teeth until much later on…however, you are showing LOTS of teething signs and I’m sticking with my suspicion. Besides, the doctor we saw wasn’t your regular doctor and doesn’t know what an advanced baby you are! We will see over this next month if some little teethies pop up!

You’ve had some pretty huge milestones this month. One of them is that you discovered your hands and thumb! You LOVE to suck on both your hands now, which means I am constantly washing them so you don’t accidentally get sick! You also smile ALL the time, especially when you see Mommy and Daddy. This has been my most favorite milestone so far, because it is the most rewarding thing to see you start to recognize us. You have also found your voice, and it is the sweetest sound I have ever heard. You love talking to Mommy and our favorite time is around 7am, when you wake up for the day and we get a good half hour of cuddle time/talk time in before we get up for the day. The last milestone is that you have started mimicking our facial expressions. This one is really fun to watch. When I stick out my tongue at you, you start working your little mouth and trying to figure out which muscles you need to use until your little tongue starts poking out. It is absolutely the cutest thing.

 

At your two month check-up you weighed in at 13 pounds, 4 ounces. You measured in at 23.5inches in height and your head is 16.5 inches. You shot up in the last month…so much that you are off the charts in weight and head circumference and in the 95% percentile for height. In fact, the doctor came in and measured your head three different times to make sure they got it right. They couldn’t believe the growth spurt you went through! I actually have to take you back in a month so they can check your head again to make sure it isn’t growing TOO fast.

Because of your growth spurt, we are officially done with size 1 diapers. Luckily we were able to use them all up and were left with one box of size 1-2 diapers, which are definitely a little tight, but we are making do with them until they are gone. You are all over the board in clothing sizes. You seem most comfortable in size 3-6 month clothes, but can still wear your 3 month clothes and even some of your 0-3 month clothes. You even have one onsie in a size Newborn that you wear.

My favorite things about you so far (besides everything!) are when you know milk is coming and you make a sound that resembles a puppy panting. You just get so excited! It makes me laugh every time. I also love your sweet smile and I can make my voice go to crazy high octaves just to squeeze one little smile out of you. You also make these adorable little screeches that sound like bird chirps. You will chirp loudly and wait until you have our attention and then go back to looking around the room. You also have the most adorable sleepy stretch when you are just waking up; you ball your little fists up and reach high above your head, while tucking your legs up and sticking your head out. I am going to try and get it on video because I love it so much. My last favorite thing you have done this month is give us sweet wet baby kisses (otherwise known as baby drool) on our arms, shoulders and hands. I will just be holding you and suddenly feel something wet, only to discover that somehow your little mouth found my fingers, hands, arm, or shoulder.

Above all, my favorite thing about this month has been that I got to spend another month getting to know you. Your personality is coming out more and more every day and I absolutely can’t wait to see what next month brings us. I love you so much, baby doll. Happy 2 months!

Love,

Mommy

Most random post eva....

Hannah is slumbering her little self away, so I thought I'd pop onto the ol' blog here and write a random post. I'd LOVE to post her two month update, but most of her pictures are on my phone and I am too lazy to get them onto my computer right now...so that will have to wait.

I'm giving you fair warning right now that this post will not make sense. Here are 10 random thoughts.

1) I started WW (Weight Watchers) about a month ago and have had the hardest time sticking to it. I'm not really good at diets...mostly because I love eating too much...and partly because I don't like being told "no"....and when I see that ice cold frozen yogurt topped in chocolate sauce and sprinkles, and my brain tells me "no"....well that's game over folks. Down the trap it goes!

In all honesty though, I've had a really tough time losing the last 10 pounds of my pregnancy weight. I'll admit, I haven't tried that hard...so as of tomorrow I am back to the whole WW plan and Hannah and I will be making an appearance at our first Stroller Strides meeting!

2) Stroller Strides. Apparently it's a gaggle of Mama's who are looking to meet other Mama's and lose some of those pregnancy pounds at the same time. And you get to bring baby in the stroller. Bonus!

3) Erin Condren Planner...Have you guys heard of this?! Apparently it's been all over the bloggy world...it's a crazy expensive planner but you get personalized stickers! I'm sold. Making this purchase righhhhhtt.....now.

4) I picked up my wedding dress on Wednesday! I was excited and disappointed. Excited because who doesn't love big white dresses?! Disappointed because I don't totally LOVE my dress....it might have something to do with those above mentioned 10 pounds that are sticking around...so I'm hoping I feel better about it after some serious dieting.

5) Hannah's newborn pictures F.I.N.A.L.L.Y came in. Good thing I wasn't planning on sending out birth announcements or anything....my baby is already almost 2.5 months old! They are okay...which makes me nervous because this guy is also our wedding photographer.

Okay...they are pretty darn cute...but that's because I have a pretty freakin' cute baby. No thanks to Mr. photographer who wouldn't let me calm her down so we end up with 15 pictures of her screaming her head off.

6) Wedding planning is moving right along! In fact, I am getting close to being done. It's not as overwhelming as I thought it would be. The most frustrating thing so far is having to rely on vendors to answer my questions...I wish I could just do it myself...especially when they take forever to respond. What's that about? 

7) I am obsessed with the Olympics. Hannah and I have been watching them non-stop. We are some pretty emotional gals, so we (as in just me---Hannah's most likely crying over wanting more milks) end up getting a little teary-eyed over the Micheal Phelps Visa commercial and the girls gymnastics team. How cute are those little gymnasts though?!

8) Isn't Kate Middleton beautiful? I wish I was a princess. 

9) I'm dying my hair (again! why can I never settle on a hair color?!). I'm nervous about keeping my blonde hair for my wedding...mostly because I'm scared I'll kick myself 30 years down the road and wonder why on earth I thought I looked good in bleach blonde hair. But, I also don't want to do anything too drastic 2.5 months before my wedding..so I'm just going to go light brown...or a chestnut color with lots of highlights. We shall see. We shall see.

10) We've got a pretty exciting weekend coming up! All my girlies are heading up to Chelan for one last weekend together before everyone get's back to reality. I'm hoping for a nice relaxing weekend full of laying in the sun, gossiping, drinking some ice cold diet cokes and of course laughing at the cute things Hannah does. :) 

Have a great weekend everyone! 

One Month

My sweet baby girl, I can’t believe that you are already one month old. It seems unreal that time can move that fast. I want everything to slow down so that you can stay little forever, but I know that the best is yet to come. Here are some of the most amazing things about you during your first month…

You smiled for the first time. This very well could have been gas (and most probably was) but we were lucky enough to catch it on camera. This is our favorite picture of you so far and Mommy had it blown up and put onto a canvas so that we can look at it every day.

At birth you weighed 7 pounds and 13 ounces. You gained weight quickly (only losing one ounce after birth!) and at your one month check-up you were a whopping 10 pounds and 15 ounces. That puts you in the 95% percentile! You are right on track for height; measuring in at 20 inches at birth and 21 1/4 at your one month check-up.

You were in newborn diapers and clothes all the way up until about 3 weeks. The last week you transitioned into size 1 diapers and size 0-3 month clothes. We officially packed up all your newborn clothes, which was bittersweet for me. I saved one newborn onsie, your ‘going home’ outfit, and a newborn diaper to put into a shadow box for you so that someday you can see just how tiny you use to be.

You have a lot of nicknames. We like to call you Monkey, Little Lady, Pumpkin, Honey, and Baby girl. Your dad is sitting here and wants me to let you know that sometimes I call you Bubba…this is because I call Hudson, Bubba and sometimes it just slips out! Your dad is always quick to correct me though and remind me that you are the little lady. J

You don’t really have a schedule yet. We just pay attention to your cues and let you run the show. For the most part, you spend the day sleeping and are most awake at night (which makes me one tired Mommy during the day). You eat about every 2 hours and boy, do you love to eat. This is why you have been able to plump up so fast! We’ve only tried bottle feeding you a few times, which didn’t go so well…it turns out you like your milk nice and warm. We bought a bottle warmer for you, which made things go more smoothly, but you still prefer your milk from Mommy…Mommy prefers this too. J

In your first two weeks you loved to be swaddled…we would often double swaddle you, which always seemed to the do the trick and calm you right to sleep. However, in the last two weeks, you have seemed to fight the swaddle. You really love having your arms out so we swaddle you without them tucked in. However, you are still in the stage where your arms will flail around and scare you awake…so you sometimes get a little fussy and upset when you are woken up by your arms. You will start to be more aware of your arms in the next couple months though, so that will get better.

You’ve had quite a few milestones this month! You smiled for the first time and you gave a small laugh for the first time. It wasn’t a deep belly laugh, but it was enough to make us laugh with you. You have amazing neck strength and have impressed your pediatricians with being able to hold your head up like a 2 month old baby! You’ve been very good about making eye contact this past week and I love being able to look into your beautiful blue eyes. Your umbilical cord fell off in your third week and we were very happy parents because it was starting to get a little smelly.

You aren’t playing with toys yet…however, you love your wubbanubs. We make sure we have at least one of these wherever we go, because they can usually calm you right down. You love holding onto the little animal at the end, but this sometimes causes you to pull the pacifier out of your mouth…which makes you a little upset. You also seem to like your swing. We can’t tell if you love it, but you seem to sit very contently in it and watch Mommy get ready for the day. You also love looking at the patterns on your little book that you got from the hospital in New York, and on the back of Jacques the Peacock. These only hold your attention for a minute or two though. More than anything, right now you seem to just love looking around. If you start getting a little fussy, Mommy and Daddy will just walk you around the room and show you different things. Sometimes you just like to lie on your changing table and look out the window. You are a very curious baby so far.

We have introduced you to Hudson, but you both don’t seem to have any interest in each other yet. You just like looking around you and have a hard time focusing on the speedy little fur-ball; while Hudson is only interested in treats and Daddy (he really loves Dad). We’ll try again in a few weeks and see how you two adjust to each other.

You’ve been in great health so far. You had a case of milia when you were born…we like to call them ‘pearls’…apparently these little pearls will be with you for a few months. You sneeze a lot, but the doctors assured us that this is normal for infants, since you are still trying to get fluid out of your nose from when you were inside my tummy.

We did have one scary incident with you when you were almost 3 weeks old. We had to take you to New York because your great-grandma was very sick. When we got to New York, you stopped breathing and gave me and your Grammy a heart attack! We rushed you to the hospital, where they transferred you by ambulance to another hospital and admitted you into the NICU. It was heart breaking for me to see your tiny little body on the stretcher in the ambulance, and to see you in pain when they had to draw blood. You spent 48 hours in the NICU hooked up to monitors while Mommy never left your side. Even though you were only 2 weeks old and had no idea what was going on, I couldn’t bear the thought of you being upset and I wanted to make sure you knew you weren’t alone. Your nurses were very nice and let me sleep in a rocking chair next to you; they even brought me all my meals so that I didn’t ever have to leave you. All the nurses in the NICU absolutely loved you. They always came over and wanted to play with you and hold you. Everything turned out okay…nothing came up on the monitors, so we think you just had a choking episode. You seemed to love your stay at the NICU though…the nurses all joked that we’d have to go home and buy you an incubator because you seemed to enjoy just basking in the heat lamp. J

You’ve had a lot of firsts this month (pretty much everything!) but some significant ones are: your first overnight hospital stay, first airplane ride (you did amazing and slept through all our flights), first car trip, first outing with just Mommy, first visit to another state, first bath (you did not love these at first, but have since warmed up to them), first walk in the stroller, and first tummy time (which you only tolerate for at most 5 minutes at a time).

 First Bath

 Second Bath

We’ve had a lot of great times with you so far, but I think my favorite has been seeing you meet your great-grandma. She fell in love with you the minute she saw you and kept talking about you for the rest of our visit. We could only bring you in for a few minutes, because I was worried about you getting sick from hospital germs…but we got a picture of you meeting her and a picture of four generations of us. I know this will be a picture we frame and put up around the house.

Those are all our updates for your first month. Like I said, I can’t believe you are already one month old! Watching you observe and take in the things around you is absolutely amazing and makes my job as your Mom that much more rewarding. I loved you the second I found out that you were growing in my tummy and the moment I saw you, my love grew times a million. Each day I think that there is no way I could love you more than I already do, but each day I continue to love you more and more. You are truly the missing piece to our lives and I can’t imagine not having you here. It feels like you have always been a part of our little family. I love you so much little monkey and I can’t wait to see what month 2 has in store for us!

Love,

Mommy