A Day of Firsts

Today I took Kaylee out for a walk for the first time. I wanted to last Friday but due to my mass consumption of sour cream, she wasn't a happy camper. I walked down 10th street and just a little bit up towards Mill Plain to the mini mart. My treat for doing so was buying a lottery ticket. Kaylee was an angel the whole trip, not a peep out of her until we stopped in the mini mart. Then a little rocking of the stroller and she was fine. It was amusing to see her squint and look around on the walk, I just wish the sun would have stayed out longer! Nice thing is, once I got her home she was just starting to fuss, so I wrapped her up and she went right to sleep. I want to get out and walk as much as I can now that the weather isn't bitterly cold, but we have rain coming in this weekend so I'll have to wait a few days before I can go again.

The other first today was she smiled at a toy for the first time. I was bouncing a little stuffed Tigger on her feet talking to her and she was watching it with rapt attention. I'm not sure if it was me talking or the toy that did it, but her eyes never left it when she smiled.

Quite the week for firsts! She's doing very well with me putting her down in the crib and falling asleep there instead of falling asleep in her bouncer first. I still can't believe she laughed, I'm so looking forward to giving her a bath tomorrow just to see if she does again!

Galen is still doing rather poorly, his cough is icky sounding and it has tore up his throat pretty bad. Unfortunately he's going back to work tonight, he's already missed three days. We found out today that he doesn't have any sick pay left either. Bummer. Nothing to be done about it though, he's definitely not feeling well. I hope he'll take it easy and be able to survive work tonight.

Wish me luck on my lotto ticket! We need the monies!

jamie

Daily Adorable XV

She's enthralled. Do you look at the birdie or the butterflies? I don't know! And neither does she! She was looking back and forth between them for quite some time. I also just realized that she laughed on her 11th week (yesterday). Oh boy!

jamie

Beware! Cuteness Lurks!

She Laughed!

Her first laugh! I about cried I was so happy. Galen is starting to feel better and I've been giving Kaylee wipe down baths, but she hasn't had a real bath in a few days. So I set everything up and Galen dunked her in the tub. She's liked her baths for awhile now and smiles through it, but this time she decided it was too much fun and laughed! Of course, this made Galen and I laugh in response and she laughed even more. So precious! I wish there was a way to capture that on film but it's a fleeting thing. I'm star struck, a baby's laugh really is the best sound in the world.

jamie

Dreams

Well now there's a first. I've always had strange dreams all my life. Repeating kinds, flying kinds, even a prophetic one. But while taking a nap today I dreamed I heard Kaylee crying and woke up because of it. I went and checked on her, sound asleep. Oyii! hehe

jamie

Sick

Yup, Galen's sick too. Sure seems to be going around pretty hard. He's been sick since Saturday night, and we're taking him into the doctor today at 11:20am. Hopefully it isn't anything bad like George got, but we're still going to need the sick note from the doc so he can fully recover. Ew! Lots of coughing.

The strange plus out of this is that Kaylee has been going to sleep in her crib. As in, she doesn't fall asleep in her bouncy seat or on me first and get transplanted. Galen's coughing wakes her up too much so I've been plunking her down in the crib. She's done remarkably well. I turn on the mobile, which always grabs her attention, put the plug in her mouth (if she wants it, 50/50) and leave her be. She'll fall asleep on her own. Granted it takes her longer, I've peeked in on her 30 min later and she's still awake, but not by much. Hopefully we can continue this trend, since it allows me to get more sleep! She never liked being put down in her crib while awake before, much with the fussiness. I like this new, no hassle baby ;)

jamie

For My Sister

Your children will be well loved by all walks of life. I can see it now! hehe...

jamie

10 Weeks

7 + 7 = ?
Sleep!! Ha, I bet you thought it was 14 huh? Nope! Kaylee did another seven hour stretch last night, yay! Best part is she was only up for 30 min after eating, all of which she was very sleepy and in her bouncy seat. Then she slept for three hours and fell asleep on her new gym while I was eating breakfast. Super cute. I watched her head slowly fall to the side as her eyes closed, and her little feet were twitching oh so slightly. I woke her up when I scooped her up off of it, but swaddled her and put her straight into the crib. She's out. I'm not sure where this wonderful, well behaved baby came from, but I'm so thankful. Now, back to bed for me too!

jamie

Toys!

Kaylee in her new gym this morning. She's been grinning from ear to ear and talking to the toys! It's great! On the giraffe there's a noise maker and she hits it with her hand, on accident or not, it's been making a bunch of noise this morning. All the hanging toys are moveable to loops around the play mat. I love it! Second best investment next to the bouncy seat. She's so happy right now. It might also have something to do with the fact that she had another seven hour sleep stretch. Yay! Too bad it started so early in the night, 7pm to 2:30am, but I still got some good sleep.

I also got three Disney movies, The Aristocats, Peter Pan and The Sword in the Stone. I like the old classics, and want to add Bambi and Cinderella to the collection. Gotta find them first though, which may be the hard part. I'm not sure if they're in the vault or not. We'll find out soon enough!

jamie

I'm Asleep. Grr!

I couldn't help it, she was cracking me up. She'd make squeaky noises and her lower lip would stick waaaay out pouty style while her eyebrows drew together all mad looking. It's just adorable. I can hear her saying "I'm asleep, grrrr!".

jamie

Yay!!

Woohoo! We got our tax return! YAY!! I get to go buy Kaylee toys! Eee! *bounce bounce* I've never been this excited to go to Toys R Us since I was eight, hehe. We're going to get her some kind of play mat and some Baby Einstine dvds.

I always watch the news in the morning when I eat breakfast, and I put Kaylee on the floor with her toys to sqiggle while I do so. Well she's recently discovered that the colors move on the TV and has been enthralled by it. It's pretty funny actually. So I figured since she discovered the TV, might as well make it baby friendly with stuff she'll learn from. Baby Einstine it is!

And happy 14 weeks sister :)

jamie

ps: Kaylee makes sounds like a squeaky door in her sleep.

Happy Valentines Day!

I bring you cuteness!

Mommy Loves You!

I forgot until now a little incident last night. Kaylee was fed, burped and happy, at 2am, after sleeping six hours and I stood up with her on my shoulder still to go change her diaper. I had one hand on the back of her head and leaned her down a little to look at her, she was all smiles. I grinned back at her and said "Mommy loves you!" at which point she promptly spit up. It went down her face and down my front right into my bra. So classic that I just bust up laughing.

Mommy loves you!

9 Weeks

So I've been debating on how to track Kaylee's age. Do I go by the 11th of every month to do her month by month? Or do I go by Thursdays week by week? I've finally settled on Thursday. Besides, I was due on a Thursday and I counted my weeks pregnant by that day. It's a good day. Right before Friday, and everyone loves Fridays. So by that reasoning, Kaylee is 9 weeks now. She's lifted her head up a few times to the point that her chest is off the ground, but not for very long. Yet. Last night she went 7 hours between feedings though, boy was I surprised when I woke up! She had gone right to sleep when I fed her previously so I got a full 6 hours of sleep. What a difference! I haven't had 6 hours of sleep in a row since Sept. of '08! She's still uncontrollably fussy when she first wakes up and screams until she gets one boob in her. This makes it difficult when she needs to be changed badly, but nothing a burp cloth wrapped around her backside hasn't fixed. I'm hoping she'll go back to the smiles when she wakes up in a few days.

I decided to get What to Expect in the First Year since I bought What to Expect When You're Expecting and read it from cover to cover. Having the knowledge was both a relief and a stresser, but at least I was able to prepare ahead of time. I keep finding myself wondering when will she do this or when will she do that, and I know this book will have the general outlines for such things. Granted I could hunt through the internet to find such information but my eyes and patience can only take so much. Thankfully I have the luxury to buy the book.

I can't wait to get our tax return! It's so exciting to check our WaMu account every morning to see if it's there or not. Almost like winning the lottery, hehe. I want to go buy Kaylee toys!

jamie

So Far...

...so good. Kaylee was rather lethargic last night and took longer then normal to eat (but at least she ate), and then went right to sleep. She did this all last night and didn't have her normal long stretch of sleep, only 3-4 hours between feedings. But at least she went right to sleep after. I didn't get any smiles out of her last night and she cried at every little thing.

This morning though she was awake enough to squiggle on the floor for awhile and smiled at me, so all is better. She's still pretty quick to cry though, so I know she has to be achy. Looks like there won't be any major reactions to her shots, which is a huge relief.

jamie

Dun dun dunnnnnn!

Today was Kaylee's 2 month doctor appointment. The good part is that she's now 24.25 inches long and 12lbs 8oz. She's in the 97th or so percentile for length, gonna be one tall girl! She's been wearing 3 month onsies ever since she turned 4 weeks, and now they're starting to get tight to button around her diaper. Granted the cloth diapers add a good inch of thickness or so to get around, but still! She's the length of your average 4 month old, hehe.

The bad part is, she got shots today; three of them. I think it's worse on the parents then the baby, since she won't remember it tomorrow but we still will. It was sooo hard not to cry, she screamed louder then I've ever heard her. Poor thing was so red and upset! I got some infant Tylenol since the doctor said it was okay to use it if she has any reaction to the shots. The worse case senario would be she gets a fever. If she's fussy and upset from the pain then I'll give her some, which is a more mild reaction.

I know there was a lot of debate over the years about giving children their vaccinations, but the way they are given has been changed and now there are problems with kids that haven't had their vaccinations. So I'm all for Kaylee getting hers. I just wish there was an easier way, which I have a sinking suspecion all parents do.

Overall she is doing very well. When on her tummy she can now lift her head above her shoulders for a few seconds, and has had her head up off the ground to the count of ten. When burping her she almost always holds her head up and looks around. She follows toys with her eyes as well as follows us. She's sleeping 5-6 hours at night between feedings still, and from what reading I've done she won't be sleeping through the night until 6 months or so. Some think that if you feed a baby cereal before bed it helps them sleep because their tummys stay fuller longer. We'll see when we get there! I don't know when I want to start Kaylee on solid foods yet.

I went and got copies of that adorable grin made. Now I just need an 8x10 frame! hehe! I have some 5x7's for grandparents too, just have to get them delivered ;)

jamie

Daily Adorable XIV

*squeeee!* I grin ear to ear every time I see this. It's the peak of adorable! I was laughing so much when I got this picture today, and she was full of smiles and baby sounds. It's a great way to make me forget last night. She was a major pill last night, oyii. And to top it off the batteries on her bouncer died. She didn't want to be walked around, rocked, bounced, held, nothin'. I would get her to drift off now and then, but she's just wake back up and start fussing again. It was frustrating. So I got Galen up for the first time and had him watch her while I went to the store and got batteries.

While I was gone he got some gas out of her by pushing her legs to her tummy. So that was part of the problem, we think. The amusing (sort of) part is, once the batteries were in and the bouncy seat vibrates again... she doesn't want to sit in it. I put her to sleep by rocking with her in the glider chair. *sigh* Though she did sleep from 9pm to 2am. So 4 hours of sleep for me! Next feeding though, she went right to sleep with the vibrate on. That bouncy seat is a godsend for us, it works wonders on her. I have extra batteries in the drawer now so it won't happen again!

Kaylee has been getting one good stretch at night now, going 5-6 hours between feedings, following it with a 4 hour stretch. During the day she usually only goes 3 hours, which is fine by me. I'm waiting for her to merge the 5-6 hour with the 4 hour, and I'll wake up to her cries bewildered but happy. It'll happen! Just look at the smiles, they're bigger and more often every day :)

jamie

Comparison

Squiggles and Talking

This morning Kaylee managed to squiggle herself a full 180 degrees on her blanket while wearing just a diaper, on her tummy. She can only go counter clockwise so far, but I watched and talked to her as she scooted herself around, first her head was on the left and then on the right! It's pretty funny to watch, she's rather vocal about the whole thing. She can also get some good swing with her hips and ended up on her side a handful of times. Those little toes are doing most of the pushing with her legs bunching up under her as well. It seems like she's constantly chasing her hand, always licking it, hehe. She can't do this with clothes on because she needs the purchase of bare limbs.

I've got a semi-routine with her in the morning that goes feeding, changing, haul blanket/outfit/baby into living room and let her squiggle in just a diaper for ~30min. Today she wanted to squiggle even after I put her clothes on. Her little toes get soooo cold I don't like to leave them bare for too long, even if the heater is going. She has the cute little "oo oo oo" cooing now. It's low pitched in sound, so not monkey like. But I still call her my chunky monkey on the changing table. I haven't decided if that's poo related or chubby limbs related yet. Maybe both!

This child loooooves to be naked on the changing table. If you want smiles out of her, just change her diaper. It's so cute! Her legs kick really hard in the mornings so I always have to wait for her to get it out of her system before I try and wrangle the things. We hold very in depth conversations involving the state of her bum. It's serious business, really.

jamie

Daily Adorable XIII

Bath day again! She's definitely losing more hair, it's kinda funny to see all her bald spots show up, and it's very obvious when we bathe her. One day she will grow it all back, and she still has the thick patch on top that curls!

jamie

Daily Adorable XII

Smiles and curls in the sunshine! She has corkscrew curls now :D

Daily Adorable XI

Today was the first time I saw Kaylee lift her head while on her tummy and move it side to side to look around. Yay! She gets better day by day and it's fun to see the progress. She's also more consistent about having 4 hours between feedings at night, and going to sleep right after as well. More sleep for me is wonderful!

jamie

Squiggles!

Kaylee loves to be naked, and hates having her clothes put on now. It's pretty amazing the fit she pitches when a onesie gets put over her head. The arms just shoot about like crazed animals! But once she's dressed she's fine. Anyway. I had her in just a diaper on a blanket in the living room for squiggle time this morning. Once she's nice and happy I flip her onto her tummy and see how well that goes. Sometimes she's fine, sometimes it's the end of the world. Today she was fine and managed to squiggle herself 45 degrees around the blanket! It was quite the sight to watch, and on top of that she lifted her head so high she could look forward! I was beside myself with glee and am still grinning about it.

jamie

Awwww Factor

One of those moments that just make me melt. Kaylee is all sleepy in her bouncer after her night time feeding and I'm wandering about picking up the living room waiting for her to actually fall asleep. I go back to my desk to peek on her (the bouncy seat is facing my desk) and she cracks open an eye to look at me. Both eyes oh-so-slowly open and this huge grin spreads across her face that just says "I know you!" Make me melt adorable. So I scoop up the adorable baby and she's asleep in 5 minutes of me rocking her. Things like this make up for it all.

jamie

Daily Adorable X

Lots of new pictures up, enjoy!

7 Weeks

It may be 2am but Kaylee is still 7 weeks old today. I'm positively gleeful right now, since she just slept five hours and passed out after eating! Granted she was awake for five to six yesterday watching and listening to the boys, but still! I got at least four hours of sleep... in a row!! Galen's alarm didn't even wake me, and that thing is dang loud.

I signed up with a few baby websites, and one of them, Nestle Good Start, sends these neat packets now and then with coupons and info. It has a listing of milestones for 6 weeks that I found rather interesting (while keeping in mind that there's a range of age for all milestones). Out of nine listed there's only one that I haven't seen her do, which is swipe at dangling objects with her hands. This is also because I haven't been dangling a lot of things over her except her stuffed Tigger. Galen and I plan on getting a type of wiggle'n'play mat like I had on my baby registry once we get our tax money. Until then, Tigger it is!

Time to see if she wakes when I put her down in the crib. Ni'night!

jamie