Pirate Baby

Arrrgggh!

A special request from dad. Apparently he likes the pirate baby picture. Really, she's just yawning.

Where is my buried treasure?

A Better Day (so far!)

Here she is playing with her toy. So far (fingers crossed & knocking on wood) today has been a much better day. Last night was nice. Her first stint of sleep lasted 4.25 hours. The longest she ever slept at one time at night was 3.5 hours, this is a whole 45 minutes longer. The second stint was 2.5 hours. I think she could have lasted a little longer, but I heard her farting & pooping & mom's boobs were about to burst. So, she got out of bed.

When daddy & I watched this video about the 5 S's, there were moms on there that were just so happy that their baby was sleeping 4 hours straight. We watched this before we had her and just couldn't imagine the sense of relief these moms had. Well, now I can. I feel so much more rested. I never, ever, thought I would be so happy about 4.25 hours. I think she owed me that after yesterday.

Here she is looking up as I hold her toy up so I can take a picture through the bars. She saying, "Hey mom! I was looking at that!"

Updated Links

Updated my links on the sidebar.

Something to Try

Isabel has been so hit & miss with both of us on taking the bottle. It pretty much needs to be her idea to take it. I am beginning to think I may never be able to go back to work because she'll never eat unless it comes from my breast. Grandma M. said someone mentioned using a breastbottle, but she didn't know much about it. But today I looked up some info about problems getting baby to accept a bottle at 2 sites:
http://www.lalecheleague.org/NB/NBSeptOct94p152.html
http://www.babycenter.com/dilemma/baby/babyfeeding/14481.html

There are some tips on there to try, plus someone there also recommended the breastbottle. So, I sought out to find information on it and ordered it. Hopefully it comes soon & hopefully it works.

Apparently, Adiri makes the breastbottle.

It was also recommended on one of the sites above to use Johnson&Johnson's Twist & Lock bottle w/ silicone nipple. I found some new ones (as the are disposable) on eBay and put a bid on them. So, we'll see.

I had enver understood before why people had so many bottles and so many nipples. It all makes perfect sense now.

Picture Day Rant :(

It just was not a fun experience bringing her to the portrait studio @ JC Penney. The drive there (45 minutes each way) was just fine - which that has been the farthest we've taken her in a car. But once we got there she was just not happy. I changed her, I nursed her, the lady tried making hersmile & not cry. But nothing really soothes this child of mine, with the exception of my breast. Which I did nurse her once in there, but when that stopped she was all sorts of fussy again. I had a feeling once we got in the studio is was not going to go well. The lady asked if we were going to do a wardrobe change and I said "no, the extra outfit is just in case she ruins this one", but all I could think was "You must be crazy. You think this kid is going to stand for a wardrobe change." Isabel hated the bright studio lights, but there was nothing we could do about that. The lady kept touching her to move her and Isabel would scream and the lady would say "Oh, she's a baby that doesn't like to be touched, ok" and then touches her again rather than just asking me to do it. This kept going on. I had brought along this cute hairbow and some shoes, but I just ended up taking them off because I wasn't sure if they were bothering her or not. So, those didn't end up in the portraits. We got a few shots and then we had a break and they told me to come back in 15 minutes and look at what they took and if I don't like them we can take some more and I can take the next time slot (as it was open.) All I could think was I just want to leave. I was so stressed out by the ordeal.

So, break time and I ran to Cinnabon. I had been thinking about getting one ALL DAY! My agenda for going to the mall was pictures, Cinnabon and Bath & Body Works. I didn't think I was asking much. So, I picked up my Cinnabon, but couldn't eat it as I was afraid if I stopped moving she would get upset again (I had her in the Snugli, which she likes.)

So, we go back and they aren't ready for me yet, even though I came back exactly when they told me. I just want to scream at them, "Don't you remember I have the fussy baby, I don't want to waste anytime here." My still moving around I was able to lull her into a light sleep and then they finally showed me the pictures.

Now, we didn't get too many shots as most of the time she was fussy or crying. But there was some decent ones that they did get. But I think they purposefully don't take perfect shots so that they can do "enhancements" and charge you a lot more for the picture, even though the enhancements are just a mouse click & a drag. But I went through all this trouble and my spirirt was broken - I wanted to have the nicest possible picture to hang on the wall. So, I ended up getting talked into spending twice as much as I planned just so I could get a couple of these pictures with "enhancements". By enhancements I mean they were cropped and had fuzzy edges. The rest I bought were the "regular" pictures. I was so out of it by that point that I have not idea if I ordered enough pictures to make sure everyone (grandparents, great grandparents, aunts & uncles, & wallet photos for some of us). I hope I did. I will have to sit down and figure it out later. I also ended up ordering a coulpe of "regular" poses that I had not planned on just because she looked so darn cute. I was then very upset with myself for spending Soooooo much money. I was still getting upset with the lady because she kept trying to push more enhancements shots and larger photos and packages. I don't think she was going to be happy until she sold me the biggest possbile package. I just wanted to yell at her "I don't like the Sepia, I don't like the typed words, I just want real color so I can see what my baby really looks likes, who by the way is temporarily sleeping and if you don't shut your piehole soon and let me finish my order she will wake and I will leave without buying anything because I can't stand to be here another minute with a crying baby." But I didn't yell those things.

I finished ordering and kept boucning around and so she stayed asleep. I managed to get to B&BW and there were these three 10 year olds running around spraying everything and no one wa telling them to stop. They almostgot an earful when they started spraying stuff on eachother near me while I was in line. Being in line was totally annoying. I was #4 in line and there was 4 people working (3 on the floor and 1 @ the register). You would think one of them woul open up another register, but they didn't. They are stupid. I wanted to yell at them too. Still didn't get to eat my Cinnabon, still carrying it around.

Get in the car, she falls back alseep. I cry half the way home because I realize I no longer have any type of life that I recognize. I can't eat, pee, or sleep when I want to. My feet are getting all dry. I used to see ladies wearing sandals with dry heels and think "Just pumice those things and use some lotion." I don't have time to pumice my feet. I am lucky if I get to soap my body ad shave my armpits everyday. And lotioning, well that would be a treat. Taking an actual bath is a fond memory. And I was beginning to be really thankful that I went back on birth control yesterday.

When I got home she stayed asleep (she woke up a couple times and cried briefly, but went back to sleep, letting me cry in peace) and gave me time to reheat my Cinnabon. They just aren't as good (not by far!) when they are not fresh. Then I wanted to pee and she woke up and started wailing. I sid screw it, she can cry for the minute it takes pee and wash my hands.

Then we went upstairs and laid down together for napping & nursing. I would periodically wake up and look at her and she is so cute all nestled next to me. It was hard to imagine just how frustrated she had me earlier.

I did take a couple picture here at home. She wasn't happy about this either. But the bow does look cute, although I think that will be the only tie she wears it.


Ok - rant over.

Twice the Time

3 weeks

My how she has grown. This pictyure you have seen before. It is Isabel @ 3 weeks. Now compare it to the one below.

5 1/2 weeks

This is Isabel today, at 5 1/2 weeks. Look how much shorter the dress is on her. This will be the last time she gets to wear this cute little thing. Yesterday she weighed 11 lb. 5 oz. She gained another 3/4 pound. Every time I go in (& I mean all 4 times I brought her) they told me the weight gain would slow down. We don't go in now again for 2 weeks. Her head circumference is now 15 1/4" (1/4" bigger than last time) and her length is 23" (3/4" than last time I measured). In the top picture she was 22.25"; you can sure tell the difference in length by looking at these 2 pictures.

Favorite Things

Pictured here is Isabel and two of her favorite things: playing with the mirror toy & being naked. She much prefers the diaper off, but I'm not doing those photos. Plus, I try to limit her diaper off time, as I know I am tempting fate and she'll ge her breastfed, yellowy, seedy, loose stool all over the place. That stuff stains almost instantly. Thankfully, Jessi gave me some Dreft stain remover as a present.

Her other favorite thing (not pictured) is feeding at the breast. She may poop a lot, but she is not fond of it and hates farting. She hates hiccups, but gets them daily. She used to hate yawning, but I think she is getting used to that feeling. Sometimes, she isn't fond if sleeping either. She's usually fighting herself to stay up for that first nighttime sleep, after that first nighttime one she generally is easy to get bak to sleep at night, after you feed her or course.

She likes swinging her arms & legs around, but doesn't have very good control yet and hates it when she hits herself in the head. I have to laugh at her when she does that. She'll hit herself in the head & then cry and look at me like I am supposed to fix it, but I tell her it's her own fault and she has to stop hitting herself.

She likes to be swaddled, when she's tired. If she's not quite tired, she'll fight it and try to wiggle out. Daddy doesn't wrap as tight and she can normally wiggle an arm or two out.

She seems to like being tickled. It's a good way to get her to smile. Daddy is waiting for the time when she learns to laugh.

Picture of the Day

Maybe I am just not meant to put comments on this post. I have had so many troubles with it. And finally when I thought I would be successful, I managed to erase them all and now I have to re-type it. Bah! I had to wait 3 hours to put on comments because all Isabel would let me do was post the picture before.

Today's ensemble is a Children's Place onesie sent to us from mommy's high school friend Jill (she sent us a bunch of coordinating pink things) and a vintage Guess diaper cover that mom picked up somewhere. The onesie is 3-6mo., as I have outgrown many of the 0-3mo. onesies, but a lot of the 0-3 mo. clothes still fit.

Mom was trying to get me sitting up in the armchair in the office, but I could only hold the position for a few moments before I would slide. But I am getting stronger and more active everyday.

We've got a pretty busy week ahead of us, but I am starting to learn that mom likes to stay busy. Tomorrow is the newborn clinic, so we'll see how much more weight I've gained. Mom will probably get my length and measure me head too. I do have a growth spurt that I am do for. Then on Wednesday, Grandma M. is coming for a visit for a few hours. And mom is hoping on Thursday or Friday that she can take me to JC Penney to get 6-week portraits done. That was the first age that her parents took her to get portraits done (they actually got a lot of pictures of her in the first year). I think mom wants to see if I look like her when she compares the picture, but lately more & more people are saying I look like dad. I think mom is getting a little envious of that. And then on Saturday the plan is to go to great-aunt Dawn's cabin for an early 4th of July picnic (depending upon how I am doing that day.) It will be the longest car ride they will have taken me on (normally 1.5-1.75 hours). Hopefully I do ok with that because they want to take me to WI someday (normally 5.5 hours) and they want to take me on a trip for a few days at the end of this month to great-grandma I's cabin (normally 4 hours, I think). We'll see how those long car rides go for us.

What is Mom Thinking?

What I am modeling here is a onesie from my great aunt Mary (mom & her share a birthday). It has cherries all over it and a matching bib, which I am also displaying. Next are a pair of vintage (not sure what vintage means, I just know that is how they descibe dresses that the stars wear that are not new) pants I have been wearing for the last 5 weeks. They are only about a half inch too long, but they fit me in the waist. I'm also sporting a couple accessories from Gymboree, a hat & sunglasses. I like the bling on the side of the sunglasses, other than that - they annoy me. What is mom thinking? And the hat - you should see how many hats this woman has for me. She does realize I only have one head -- doesn't she?!?! But I am fond of some of these bucket hats because they keep the sun out of my eyes when we go for walks.


This is my swing, but I could take it or leave it. It hasn't helped much in calming me, but if I am close to falling asleep, it has helped get me there. You really can't tell by looking at this picture how much I hate the sunglasses. Who wears pink sunglasses anyways? Mom says they had a sticker on them saying they would protect me from UV rays, but does she really want me looking at the world through rose colored glasses?

My foot looks big, but it's just the camera angle. They are still all small & cute. Mommy's friend Kate kept playing with my feet when we were at the parade. She has some kind of baby feet fetish.

This is mom's new favorite picture of me. Aren't I just adorable? I look pretty happy here -- that's because she took off those stupid sunglasses. Man, I hated those. She says I'll grow to like sunglasses in the future.

Anyways, this is my 5 weeks picture (a day late). We were pretty busy yesterday. Me - eating, pooping & sleeping (you know -- the usual), mom & dad - doing stuff around the yard, garage & house. I slept pretty good and they didn't have the heart to make me stay awake longer for their silly pictures.

If you want a copies of pictures of me on this blog, just right-click on the picture and select "save picture as" or any of the other options shown. Who wouldn't want a picture of me? I'm so cute!

The Other Side

Ok - she is sleeping on "the other side' today. So a snapped a shot. Mom's gotta go to some rummage sales now since it is the start of SRD here. I'm hoping to find a changing table to put on the main level, so we don't have to change her on a mat on the floor or always run upstairs to change her.

BTW - mom gave her the bottle last night since dad was taking his sweet time getting home from retrieving a "parts" car to work on his "project" car. She took the bottle from mom just fine.

Another Growth Spurt Coming Up

Babies go through growth spurts at 2-3 weeks (she was closer to 2 weeks), at 6 weeks, 3 months, & 6 months. She is 5 weeks this Satuday, so I assume we should expect her to start going through her growth spurt any day now. Last time she got fussier (not fun!) and wanted to nurse so much that I just would have ripped off my boobs & hand them to her.

So, I think I better get all those 0-3 month clothes on her that I wanted to see her in, because they won't fit very soon. Unless.....her growth spurt makes her grow longer (& not wider) because a lot of the items there is still some length left to them. So, maybe, just maybe.

I do have this one cute top from Gymboree that I really want to see her in. It has this cow on the front, by some flowers. It's very cute. I got some pants from Carter's (with flowers on the cuffs) to go with them. It just hasn't been a pants wearing day in a while.

Oh. I have to mention that daddy got her to take a bottle last night. He thinks it is because of the milk he used. It was from the first time I pumped when I was engorged. So, it is colostrum mixed with milk. He said she was refusing the bottle and them she actually tasted the milk and wanted it. He couldn't give it to her fast enough, she wanted it so bad. He would squirt milk in her mouth before, but he was giving her recent stuff. Tonight she will get the next colostrum/milk bottle. Each subsequent bottle will have more milk & less colostrum (as you can tell by the color) and hopefully she'll do fine with the straight milk from a bottle in a few days.

Outfit from Auntie Phanie & Uncle J

So, yesterday afternoon I got out her next set of clothes. As some run small (& some big for their size.) This is an outfit she got from Auntie Phanie (I think maybe that will be easier to pronounce, Phanie = fanny) & Uncle J when they came to visit when she was 2 weeks old. Do you like Auntie Sheffie or Auntie Phanie better?

The Carter's dress fits, but the sandals are still too big. Maybe later this summer.

Here's a close-up. She's playing with her toy in the crib again. You gotta love those chubby cheeks. Daddy says she looks like a chipmunk with a bunch of nuts stored in her cheeks.

I'm hoping today she gives me some downtime.....I need to stitch together a makeshift swaddling blanket. She has these 2 really nice ones that grandma M. made for her, but they are a little warm now tht she has a good layer of fat on her. And she has been getting too hot. So, last night I tore apart a pillow case we don't use and tried that. The heaviness (or lightness was perfect), but it needs to be bigger. so I need to tear apart another one and stictch them together. We tried looking for a lightweight blanket in Target, but there is not such thing.

Happy & Playing

I am happy to report that she is playing much longer with her little crib toy thing (the toy recommendation I made a couple weeks ago). She is even entertaining herself through hiccups (which she gets daily & hates and usually ends up crying) and right now. So, far I was able to fold a load of laundry in her room, check my email, go to the bathroom & type this post. Excellent. It's so cute watching her smile at herself in the mirror.

I love this little Gymboree onesie I bought for her and I thought I better get it on her before she outgrows it. It says "C begins cat who got fat" and has a gray cat on it. I thought it fit right in with our Larry. The diaper cover I have on her is new also. It's from Ralph Lauren & is much cuter from the backside where it has all these ruffles. It's supposed to be 83 degeres today, so I thought I better dress her light.

Well, better not push my luck. If I do I could end up with a crabby girl and I don't want that.

Just a reminder that you can click on any of the picture to bring them up bigger.

One Month Old Today!

Isabel is One Month old today! I bought this outfit at Carter's this weekend to wear today to celebrate being one month old. It's actually a tank style top, but it was too chilly this morning to have her bare chubby arms out. So I put a pink onesie on underneath.

Just look at those chubby cheeks. You can tell she is a good eater. I took her to the Newborn Clinic (we were able to make it after all) and she weighs 10 pounds 6 ounces. It makes sense that many of her 0-3 month clothes are fitting perfect now. Next week they probably won't fit anymore. It's so funny - because at one week they were falling off of her and now she is going to outgrow them already. They grow so fast. I also meaured her length today (still the same 22.25) and head (now 15".)

So, I wanted to figure out just what percentile she was in for everything and I found this site that will calculate it. At birth she was in the 95th percentile for length, between 25th&50th percentile for weight, and 75th percentile for head circumfernce. Now at one month she is is between 50th&75th percentile for length & weight and 50th percentile for head circumference. So, it seems like she is right in the middle of everything at one month old.

Happy Father's Day Daddy!

Awwwww! Isn't that sweet. Daddy & Isabel are sleeping nicely together on Father's Day. Mom had to get up and feed, change diaper & clothes, & entertain her until she was sleepy again and could give her to daddy. Now, mommy is going to go take a shower & go try to pull some weeds in her flower beds.

4 Week Old Pics w/ Dad

I'm not too thrilled to be put up in the air like this. Actually, it scare me quite a bit. I am sure someday soon I will like it and dad will be happy because he can play airplane with me. Dad is looking forward to me gettnig more mobile so that he can play around with me. Right now all I do is sleep, eat, & poop. And I don't like to eat from the bottle, so that limits how much dad can do with me right now. I know both mom & dad hope I will take the bottle soon. I know mom really wants me to so that she can get out for a few hours, or maybe mom & dad can get out together and leave me with a sitter.
By the time dad got me I was fed up of pictures. He was taking all these pictures with the flash, I hate the flash! of me with mom. I do like dad and he does a good job calming me. He doesn't get so flustered anymore and can take my crying longer.

I looked so cute in this outfit, but then I got poop & pee all over it as mom was changing me and I decided to go all over the place before she got another diaper in place. I think dad has a better system for diaper changing in place as he doesn;t go through as many clothing changes and we don't need to wash as many pads & covers, but we do throw out more diapers.

Mom & dad took me shopping with them this evening. Well, they tried. Foolish parents took me during my fussy time. They had to rush through the stores and at both Menards & Target mom had to take me out early to change and/or feed me. They were hoping to go sit down some place to eat, but they just ended up going through the drive-thru @ Arby's and eating it in the car while I nursed on mom. Hey - I was still hungry too! I can never get enough of that yummy breastmilk.

4 Week Old Pics w/ Mom

Usually mom s the one taking pictures, so she never ends up in any of them. So, she had to ask dad to take some pictures. She loves for you to hold her over your shoulder (much like the cat Lucy.) She likes to pick her head up here and look around and will push up from her feet if you put your hand underneath her feet.

Looks like mom is sleeping. She's not, but she's learning to go on autopilot for those late night feedings.
Isabel is 4 Weeks old today. That has sure gone by fast. She grows so much every day. When she was born she was this skinny little thing. Now look at those pudgy cheeks and arms. We have no doubt she's burn all that fat off once she starts moving more. She loves to kick around her feet and throw around her arms A LOT! She's going to make mom & dad lose weight having to chase after her.

New Windows for Baby (& us!)

Today, the windows we ordered for the baby's room (& kitchen) were installed. Hopefully this will hep with energy efficiency, as well as keep the baby warmer in the winter (our old windows were drafty.) We bought some Side WinderCaulk by Dap and gave it to them to use. It is a low VOC caulk, and honestly I do not notice any odor at all (not like when windows were put in the master bath & bedrom and regular window caulk was used.) We didn't want to expose the baby to any toxic fumes unneccessarily.

Does My Head Look Bigger?

"Pbbrrrttt!" Isabel loves to stick out her tongue and she's pretty good at it too.

She's having a much better day today. Yesterday she napped just fine, but when she was awake she was all sorts of cranky. If she is cranky in the morning, she just can't shake it. Something magical happens at bedtime where the crankiness will go away and she'll be fine the next day.

I don't just only sleep. I am awake sometimes. It's mom's fault she takespictures of me when I am sleeping.

It's supposed to be 80 & humid today (70 already), so mom put me in mt 1st pair of shorts. It was either a shorts or a dress day and I've worn too many dresses lately.

Can you tell my head got bigger? Mom measured it today and it measure 14.5", it was 14" at birth. That 1/2" makes a big difference when wearing hats. Mom has me wear hats because she says it protects me from the sun, but we know all about mom & hats. She has a bunch of them for me to wear through my 1st year. My head will never get cold or sun burned.

Shhh! Don't Wake the Sleeping Baby Burrito.

I just took this picture 2 minutes ago. She's sleeping. We need to swaddle her like a burrito for her to sleep decent. During the first couple weeks we didn't need to swaddle her as much, but she moves her arms & legs around so much that she disturbs herself, usually by hitting herself in the head (& if you sleep next to her or with her on your chest & she isn't swaddled, she'll hit you in the head too!)

She's in her bassinett here. She's going to outgrow that fast, although I knew that she would probably only use it for the first 3 months anyways. She's actually a pretty sensitive sleeper. If she is sleeping in the pac-n-play in the living room, you can't be watching tv because once she's in the light phase, it's all over and she'll wake up. The same is true for too much light. Her bedroom gets a lot of light and the blinds in there just don't cut it. If she is sleeping in her crib, she'll sleep fine in the the deep phase, but the light disturbs her in the light phase. I'm going to have to order some room darkening curtains for her room (like I did for ours - which are great!) So, for now she'll mainly do most of her sleeping in her bassinett.

Recent Visit to Newborn Clinic

We visited the Amazing Newborn Clinic today and @ 3.5 weeks she weighs 9 lb. 7 oz. We won't be able to go next week (they only hold it on Tuesdays), so we'll have to wait until June 27th to get another weigh-in. And then they aren't open on July 4th (of course), so the next one after that will be on July 11th. So, we'll kinda be doing the every other week thing for a while.

She's Learning...

We might get to have a night out yet......all last week daddy was trying everyday to give her a bottle with breastmilk and she kept refusing to suck or drink. She would hold the nipple in her mouth to humor him we think, but no sucking or drinking until last night. We didn't put much inthe bottle since it may just be a wste anyways, but last night she drank the 3/4oz. I put in there and he fed to her. When we refilled and heated up some more, she was back to refusing & humoring. So, maybe by Sunday she'll be better at it and more willing and we can go to the play Sunday afternoon.

Isabel is not very fond of tummy time on the activity mat....She likes being on her back and looking at stuff, but not her tummy.But I do find that she will work those neck muscles if I put her over my shoulder. She likes to pick her head up and look at me or all the way up and look at the ceiling fixture; she really likes ceiling fans. She works her leg muscles too at this time. If I put one hand under her feet & the other on her back, she will push off my hands with her feet. I guess mom is her best activity mat.

UPDATED - 2pm

Her head is bigger. She no longer fits in her newborn size hats.....but the ones that are size 0-6 months are still a little big. I do have a couple that she can wear right now. I needed a hat for her today as I took her for a walk in her Snugli. I tried it last week and she didn't quite fit into it, she seemed a little small for it yet. But now she fits just fine and zonked out right away when I got her in and started walking. Still haven't had luck with the sling or pouch, but now that she will at least work with one thing that I can carry her around in I am happy. Carrying a 9-lb. weight on my chest as I walk does increase my workout.

I think her nights & days are starting to swtich, but now she wants to cluster feed in the day rather than night (which is good), but my milk production hasn't switched, but it will soon.

Life Lessons on Raising a Daughter

When I was pregnant and daddy & I were shopping at Motherhood Maternity (& we already knew we were having a girl), he asked me to buy him the book Father to Daughter, Lessons on Raising a Girl. It is a very cute little book, filled with 378 pages of bits of advice. I thought maybe I would share some with you from time to time.

#14: Let her sleep on your chest when she's a baby. This is when the world begins to make sense.

#24: Her mom will show her how to bake chocolate chip cookies. You show her how to dunk them in milk.

#41: Realize that as your shape her, she will shape you.

#47: Always remember, she can do anything a boy can do.

#58: Play catch with her. Even if the ball is pink and covered with glitter.

More to come later......

3 Weeks Old & A New Rocker

She is 3 Weeks Old today. She likes to do that thing with her hand where she puts it under her chin, as if her chin is resting in her hand.
We just bought this leather rocker/recliner today. It's on the main level of the house. It kinda sucked always having to go upstairs to rock her.

Making Up for Stuff

Well, sleep is definitly on the top of the list. I did manage to get in a decent nap yesterday afternoon with Isabel. By evening I was beginning to worry that we would have a repeat of the night before...but luckily dad stepped in and gave mom a sanity break. Actually - he had stuff to make up for from the morning. Yesterday morning I asked him to change her early morning diaper (he had to get up soon for work anyways), but he totally blew me off. I was a little upset, as I had only 3 hours of interrupted sleep the entire night. Then before he leaves he complains of being super tired and I told him he was preaching to the choir. I don't think he saw the tears in my eyes as he left the room. I was just hoping the day would be different thant he night was. And it was, although she was pretty cranky in the morning and wanted to be held as she slept, which made it impossible to get anything done. I tried the sling, but she screamed in that. I'll keep trying though. Daddy did call & apologize later when he realized what an idiot he was and told me I should have punched him and said that anything he says in the first 3 minutes of the day should not count towards anything, but I am still allowed to punch him if he sounds like an idiot.

So, when daddy came home yesterday after work. He took Isabel and got to work. He gets home during that baby "happy" hour (6-8pm). He did manage to calm her nicely, got a short little nap with her and got her to take her pacifier. He was being persistent yesterday and wasn't going to call in for backup when she started to get too fussy (which is good that she learns someone else can help soothe her besides mom.) Then to my amazement, he was able to get her to to go to sleep around 9pm. He was trying to give her a bottle (he said she took it for a second but was shocked when milk came out of it because she probably thought it was a pacifier, but then refused again after that - but it's progress) and then ended up rocking her to sleep. This was the first time mom didn't have to nurse her to sleep or nurse her and pass her off. So, I'm excited. Dad scored big points last night.

So, I got some baby-free time. I had to eat supper alone again, and watched a little tv and read a little and did little things around the house. It's really amazing how much you can make yourself get done when you know you only may have a very short amount of time but many things to do.

Calming the Baby

First time in a dress. This outfit lasted about 2.5 hours. It's a cute little Hanna Andersson dress though.

I put her in her bouncy seat on the floor in the bathroom while I shower. She is calmed by the sound of the shower. Of course I do buckle her in, but just for the picture I didn't. She kinda likes the vibration on this thing, but not so much on the bassinett. She is touch & go about the swing. It only seems to work when she just needs that little thing to push her over the edge into sleeping.












Don't let her cute, quiet appearance here fool you. She was NONE of that last night. She was all sorts of fussy and it seemed like the only thing that would soothe her was my breast. Needless to say mom is a little tired & cranky today. It seemed like she was permanently in light sleep mode. She would sleep for 5-20 minutes (this started around 4pm)and then something (or herself) would wake her. At 9:30p we took her for a car ride and she was fussy and crying until we stopped at McD's (when dad went in to buy us ice cream and I sat there and nursed her). She fell asleep in the car on the way home (BTW - gotta be careful about slamming the car door, she doesn't like that.) and we brought her inside in the carseat and set in in our bedroom. She stayed asleep for maybe another 6-7 minutes. She wanted nothing more than to be held & fed by mom. I did swaddle her a couple of times. But I have to feed her and rock her after the swaddling to get her to fall asleep. And that only lasts as long as she doesn't poop herself. The instant she poops herself she cries. She doesn't care as much about the pee, but poop but be instantly removed. So, when she cries we check the diaper right away (unless she is rooting around). Or if we hear her poop, then we jump on that pronto.

So far, today is not exactly shaping up to be much better. I did read that when babies go through their growth spurt they get fussier.

Wonder how I am getting all this typing done? I have the boppy on my lap and am pushed up against the desk. She nursed herself to a light sleep and now lays here. I know if I try to put her in her crib again she'll wake up.

Sometimes she falls alseep when I take her for a walk, but not always. It seems like the little tricks only work every so often.

We do the 5 S's (swaddling, shhh-ing, swinging, sucking, side laying). They do help calm her if she is crying, but I want to get her in a deep sleep.

She wants nothing to do with the pacifier anymore. We try everyday, but she refuses. I am beginning to think we have a high-needs baby. I was just reading about that in the Baby Book (by Sears & Sears & Sears & Sears -- apparently they do things as a whole groups of them) that we got from Carol & Tony. Hopefully, this is just fussiness from her growth spurt.

Tonight we'll do the bath thing. That is supposed to be calming, plus it's bath night anyways. It's the first time we'll use the baby bath.

Calming music - oh, I think she hates traditional classical. She seems fine with the baby einstein CD I have, but that is more like music box sounding, but this one I play in the morning while I am nursing. This other one that is a classical CD for babies & is is done by real symphonies, she cries all the time when that is on. And the other CD I have of kids music is this one from PB Kids and it is playtime music and we use it during that time.

She does seem to fall into that deep sleep faster if the a/c is on, even if it's just turned to fan. But not last night.

I tried using the pouch sling I have. She doesn't like that. I think today we'll try out the Maya Wrap Sling.

She does seem to be pretty gassy yesterday & today. I wonder if that was causing her to be more fussy. I wonder what it was that I ate. I eat a lot of dairy, but have since day one so I don't think it is that. I wonder if it could be the asparagus. Could that make her gassy? That would be a shame, as I bought a bunch (have 3 more dinners worth left) and it tastes so good. Other than that my food has been the same. The only other thing I was thinking was caffiene. 2 other times she was really fussy like this I had 1 cup (although everything said it woud have to be a lot more than one cup) of coffee in the morning. Maybe she's really sensititve to caffiene. I do remember that when I was pregnant if I had 1 cup she got pretty active in me that day. Other than those 2 things everything else was pretty standard of what I ate. Sometimes my food choices can get repetitious. Anyways, anyone ever try Mylicon drops? She does get really upset when she has gas trapped inside of her. I was thinking of picking some of this up at Target today.

Ok - going to go try to put her in her crib so that I can get something done today (other that sit at the computer.)

The Little Peanut

Just took this picture, literally just seconds ago. Yesterday, I took her to the Amazing Newborn Clinic to get her weighed. Well, she is definitly eating well. She put on another pound and weighs 8 lbs. 11 oz. now. Last night I was noticing that she seems longer as well and that it won't be too long before she outgrows her bassinet. Oh, what will mom do then. She'll have to get over it and put her in her crib in the nursery (I don't want to put the crib in our room). Anyways, I just measured her when I took the picture and she is 22.25" long (which is 1" longer than her birth length & also what they had measured (21.25) her a week ago.) So, she's growing fast. I thought she was supposed to go through a growth spurt @ 3 weeks. Either she's early or she's going to get even bigger this next week.

We had one of the best nights yet with her (I say we, but I mean me - now that daddy is back at work and I can take a nap in the afternoon I don't make him get up to check her diaper & make sure she just needs changing.) She's been increasing her sleep time @ night, which is wonderful. Last night we had two 2.5 hour stretches of sleep in a row (with nursing after each) and she slept in her bassinett both times. After than she had 2 shorter periods of 1.25-1.5 hours (with nursing afterwards), but she wanted to be in our bed during that time (otherwise she'll fuss a lot and keep mom up). But I am starting to master nursing while laying down. That is working out pretty slick for when she wants to sleep with us. Much more efficient that getting up and sitting in the rocker with the boppy and trying to put her back down, when she nurses in bed with us she just falls asleep and I just cover my breast back up (daddy think I should just start sleeping topless) and continue sleeping.

This week for visitors -- I took her into my work on Monday (after my appt.) so that some people there could meet her. This weekend her Uncle Tony & Aunt Carol are going camping at the local (to us) state park and are going to come visit her.

Toy Recommendation

I have to give kudos to the Me in the Mirror toy by Sassy. After noticing how much Isabel likes the mirror on the Baby Einstein activity mat, I thought I would find some other mirror item. She loves looking at herself (like most babies.) So, I bought this at Target today and set it up in her crib. Now I can put her in her crib while she is alert & awake and she stays entertained for several minutes. If you are a mom, you realize that small babies can't focus their attention too long on something, so getting a few minutes to pick up the room while the baby is awake (& not crying) is just amazing. This toy got 4.5 out of 5 stars on Amazon (with 122 reviews, so that pretty good.) Spend the $12.99 and buy this for your baby, or get it for someone as a shower gift. They will appreciate it once they have the baby and could use a few minutes of quiet, awake baby.

Visits from the Aunties

This was last week Saturday when she was 1 week old. Here she is with Auntie Miranda. Not sure what she will end up calling her in the beginning because Miranda is a mouthful for a little one. Auntie Miranda & Uncle Shane came to visit last week.

Here is a picture from today. She is 15 days old. She is pictured here with her Auntie Sheffie (Stephanie, a.k.a. Kinky Phanie Gates). I figure Sheffie would be something a little one could get out, again, Stephanie is a mouthful. Auntie Sheffie & Uncle Jason (we'll call him Uncle J) were here visiting this weekend. Daddy & I were going to try to get out for a little bit after supper to get ice cream and leave her with these 2, but after supper is her fussiest time (besides 2am), so we just took her along and thought we would try out seeing if car rides put her to sleep. They do.

Handprint Kits

So, we have acquired several handprint kits. Don't make the mistake in thinking it would be "easy" to do. We did the one kit yesterday and used how much water in said to make the plaster and it said to wait 3-5 minutes -- TRY 20 MINUTES! Then after all the waiting and you have your sleeping baby there ready to imprint, well, turns out that moving them around to get in position to make the imprint & also hold their hand there will wake them up. Not to mention that they don't just keep their palms out flat for you, but then close their palm into the plaster (great, more to clean up!) all the while screaming bloody murder. Ok - so that looked like crap and we smoothed it out and just did the foot (she didn't exactly like that either, but it went better than the hand.)

I have another kit that you do a hand print & a footprint & a picture. I'll think I'll wait to do that until we have Skye take pictures, so they all are from the same time period.

And we recently acquired a whole other set of handprint kits that you do from 1 years old to 5 years old. You do one each year & there is not one for birth. So, that one will sit in the closet for a year and hopefully we will remember it for her birthday next year.

Pictured here is the handprint kit tower. It's that little pink think in front of the huge red bag. This was a gift that was sent to us that was ordered from Amazon. Apparently they chose to have it gift wrapped and some smart-ass at Amazon decided to gift wrap that little present in the monsterous gift bag (it's actually a nice gift bag, made of cloth with fabric ribbon ties.)
Pictured here is Uncle Jason inside the gift bag. Keep in mind he is 5'10 and 220 pounds. I think that the gift bag will be used to give someone a tricycle in the future, maybe a rocking horse, or a new car.

Two Weeks Old!

She is supposed to be going to sleep here, but she's just not interested. If she would only stay this quiet & content.
So, she's not perfect. She is a real baby and does cry. Although she is a pretty good baby. Daddy & I have to remind ourselves of that, especially when it's 2am and she's alert and ready to go and we just want to sleep. She fusses some, but not nearly what other babies fuss. We try to tell ourselves that we are lucky that we can pretty easily calm her and figure out what she needs, but try to convince us of that at 2am.
On the go. She's getting the arms & legs thing all figured out. We put her on her back and sometimes she stays there, but many times she rolls herself on her side and lays like that.

Now that she's had 2 weeks at the breast I can do some pumping so that daddy can feed her every so often. Woohoo! We had intended to not give her a pacifier from birth, but we changed our minds while in the hospital and gave her one and she would take it during her first week, but after that she figured out if she keeps spitting it out and fussing that eventually daddy will bring her to mommy and she'll get the boob. She's a smart cookie. Now she flat out refuses to even allow you to try giving her the pacifier. She occasionally will get her thumb in her mouth, but not often. I think it's ok that she doesn't really want a paficier or her thumb - no bad habits to try to break her of later.

Pictures from last week

Here daddy is reading to her. He reads to her most nights. We read her a story every day, mostly at bedtime. During the day mommy tries to get some tummy time & play time in on her Baby Einstein Activity Mat (she loves the mirror on there) and time for music & a walk (although we miss the walks quite a bit, hopefully we'll get on more of a schedule here soon.)

This onesie was part of a present that we got from this group of guys daddy plays Battefield 2 with on the internet. It was very nice of them to think of sending a gift. They also gave us a pink onesie that says "Does this diaper make my butt look big?" (in glitter.) She wore that once and she still has glitter on her (even after a bath.) She looks ready to go clubbing.