2 Months Old! Hooray!

Smiles.

Who can tell by looking at this happy baby here that her nice morning is going to go awful for her around 4:30pm. Yes, it is that time for the 2-month doctor visit with the dreaded immunization shots. From what I understand, her resulting behavior can go one of 2 extreme ways. She could be very sleepy and spend much of the rest of the evening sleeping (probably not our child) or she could get very crabby & fussy (sounds more like our child.) Mom is going to make sure she gets in a decent nap today to prepare herself for the latter and a long night of comforting.

I'm Ready for My Close-up!

She is very happy here sitting on her changing table. She's always happy after you remove a dirty diaper, especially poopy ones. She likes the air time her bottom half gets and takes full advantage of it to swing & kick her legs around without an restrictions from a diaper.

Her outfit today is a vintage Lullaby Club one (mom has been putting her in a lot vintage stuff this week.)

Last night, Isabel received a visit from some family friends, Roger & Joyce and Lisa & Grant. They didn't stay too long as she was kinda fussy (it was her evening fussy time) and needed to take her bath so that she could go to sleep.

Tomorrow, mommy's friend Carrie is going to come over to try to give her a bottle. Isabel flat out refuses ANYTHING related to feeding from daddy. So, mom is getting desperate and needs to call in for support from friends and family to try to make this bottle thing happen.

This Sunday is a joint birthday party for grandma & grandpa M. Isabel will get to meet her great grandma & great grandpa I. for the first time there.

I'm a Big Girl!

She really was all smiles this morning until her tiredness creeped up with her and then she needed to be swaddled right away and put down for a nap. I just got done telling Auntie Phanie last night that her shortest long period of nighttime sleep is always (guess I shouldn't have used the word always) 4 hours (but does get longer). Well, last night she divided her sleep evenly into 3-3-3. Usually it is the first stint that is longest, but I knew she wasn't going to sleep very long as she didn't nurse very well before nighttime. She was too sleepy and just wouldn't make it a long quality nursing, so she had to get up 3 hours later to refill her belly.

The nice thing though is that she is making progress on her elimination system and does most of her pooping during her awake hours and mainly only pees during sleep hours, which means I don't have to do middle of the night diaper changes as often. Which means, she stays kinda asleep when I nurse her and she can be put back down easily. Whereas, if she needed a diaper change she would wake up completely and I would spend around a half hour between feeding, changing & rocking. When she can nurse half asleep, she get what she needs and goes back to sleep in 10-15 minutes. So much nicer. It wasn't even that awful having to wake every 3 hours when she goes back down right away.

A Little Bohemian?

Uh-oh!

Isabel is such a melting pot of cultures. And yes, she is a little Bohemian, and by little I mean she is about 6.25% Bohemian. Come to think of it, she is 6.25% of a lot of things (Irish, English, French, Belgium, Bohemian, Polish, & Jewish & Unknown.) She is also 37.5% German and 12.5% Luexumborg (ians?). So, any of those could be a little more because of the unknown.

Why the unknown? Well, some information about family decent is currently lost on daddy's side because of unknown maiden names a few generations ago on both maternal & parternal sides.

Last year, mommy was taking a class on counseling the family life cycle and one of the days we talked about cultural influences (sidebar: people concentrate on race too much and sometimes forget about all the different cultures that exist) and it got her to think just what we "were made of". There could actually be more unknown, but I am fairly certain that I have got it down to only 6.25% unknown. I had last names of some on daddy's side and was able to do some research on the origin of the last name, as well as pulled some information off a geneaology website, which gave me some more information about places of birth for one family. But without maiden names of grandmas (2 & 3 greats) it is hard to know exactly. Actually, since I did this research over a year ago, it is hard to remember - but it might be just one heritage I am missing.

So, there you have it. A melting pot of European decent.

I'm So Excited! And I Just Can't Hide It!

Isabel is in a good mood this morning. I think she got a good nights sleep. Yesterday her naps were crap and even with all the short naps, they still didn't make enough to give her enough sleep. So, she was a bit crabby yesterday and then mom got crabby too (because if baby isn't sleeping, mom isn't sleeping.)

The 3 of us tried to go out to eat to Timberlodge yesterday. She did just fine through the appetizer, but after that it sucked and we had the waitress give us boxes and we left. Although, 2-4 weeks ago we would not have even made it in the door (unless she was completey sleeping - the entire time!

Yeah! My Toes Are Free!

She is so happy when we take off her socks. Actually, she's happy when her diaper is off and all her clothes are off.

Her outfit today is courtesy of grandma M.'s friend Karen. Her friend has a baby girl who is roughly 1 year older than Isabel and she has no one to pass the clothes along to, so Isabel became the lucky recipient. This is a very cute outfit. Dad said she was dressed like a hippie. I prefer to say she looks Bohemian.

Today she is laying on one of her swaddling blankets that grandma M. made and in the background you can see a bit of the toybox grandma & grandpa S. made.

Great Grandparents

Check Out My New Blanket

Isabel's great grandma S. made this for her. We just love homemade gifts. There is so much love & thought put into them. Store bought gifts are nice - don't get me wrong. But homemade gifts are something you keep & cherish and pass on.

Isabel is blessed with having 5 great grandparents (2 great grandmas and 3 great grandpas.) Mom was blessed with the same number (5) but hers were reversed (2 great grandpas & 3 great grandmas.) Mom was lucky enough to have 4 of them through quite a bit of her life. The one great grandpa died when she was rather young, but the other 4 lived though her junior high, high school, & into college years. Hopefully Isabel with have as many years with her great grandparents as her mom did. Some of mom's most prized possessions were gifts from great grandparents (a quilt, a wooden manger, a pillow, a wooden frame.) She had a few very well-loved toys that a great grandma made her when she was young, but like I said they were well loved and are no longer around.

Isabel also has both sets of grandparents who all have been wonderful about making things for her.

Holding Hands w/ Mom

Her outfit today is a vintage one, but isn't it cute. Jean overalls with red&white ribbons, flowers, & hearts. We had a pretty good day together yesterday, both insync with one another (or at least mom was insync with Isabel.) Let's hope we have another one.

Going to the Beach?

The Hat

She may look like she is ready to go to the beach, but this little girl gets a heat rash in anything above 80 degrees and today it is supposed to reach 95 (which is leass than the weekend). Actually, I don't think it is supposed to be below 90 for a high at all this week. Hopefully, as all her bodily systems mature she'll be able to go outside when it gets hotter, because next summer I can take her to the pool for swimming lessons "Tiny Tots". It's for 6mo.-3years and the babes swim with a parent. I think that should be fun for both of us, provided she doesn't think the water is too cold.

The hat has straps that velcro under the chin, but she hates that. She doesn't mind hats, but doesn't like hats with straps that go under her chin. Looks like I should get the seam ripper out and modify this hat for her.

Hat & Sunglasses

Here she is saying, "How do I keep these things from falling off my nose? And why do you keep buying me these things, I hate sunglasses."

Today she is wearing a vintage romper with little flower, butterflies, & snails on it. It is paired with a basic white Gerber onesie and some light blue socks. The hat & sunglasses mom bought new and are from the same line at Gymboree (she also has a swimsuit that matches these & hopefully we can get her in it when we go up North {as we Minnesotans say it, yes, I am a Minnesotan now, I gave up all rights as a Wisconsinite years ago.)

Finally! No Accessories

This picture was actually taken after the hat & sunglasses were gone. She's a much happier baby here. Her long stretch of sleep last night was 5 hours, but she did make us work for it as she was difficult to put down. She slept 3 hours after that, but I think she was just taking many little cat naps or else she was talking in her sleep (she may take after mom afterall.) So, she was a pretty tired baby this morning. She is napping right now and I am watching her on the monitor as she struggles through sleep phases. She does poorly with sleep phase transitions when it comes to naps (yesterday was awful for sleep phase transitions), but she is doing ok with this one. She may make it without extra helping from mom.

Yesterday she was practicing rolling over from her stomach to her back. She would get the top half going, but couldn't get the bottom half to follow. She was seriously annoyed by that. She still hates tummy time, but she is tolerating it better and better and will get her head up a little higher each time. So, she's doing good.

Not sure that I will take her to the Newborn Clinic tomorrow because Thursday we have her 2 month doctor appointment, which she is going to hate. She'll get weighed and measured then, plus she'll get shots (that's the part she'll hate.) This time I think I will call before I leave to see if the doctor is running on schedule, as last time we waited a half hour before I finally went and asked for a room to nurse in (because she was getting fussy). A nurse came in shortly after and took her vitals & measurements, but then left us and we waited another 20 minutes. That is ridiculous to make people wait so long, especially when they have children. We don't live far from the clinic, so I will just call 10 minutes beforehand and check if she is on schedule or how far behind she is.

New Videos

How to Play the Face Game



A Swinging Success

A Steamy Sunday

Outfit #1

We started out wearing this Gymboree outfit mom bought for this scorcher of a Sunday. But then she gave me some gas medicine and I was trying hard not to swallow it and then activated my upchuck reflex and got milk all over this outfit & mom. If it was a little spit up it would not have been a big deal, but this made a big wet spot on the outfit & I was going to be swaddled soon and put down for a nap & I don't like anything wet touching me. So, new outfit it is.

Outfit #2

The top mom picked up at Target for 98 cents on Friday. Although it's a good thing she didn't pay more than that for this 6mo. shirt, because if it shrinks we won't get a chance to wear it again. The bottoms are Tommy Hilfiger that mommy bought @ Marshall's. The socks don't really match. They were new at a rummage sale and mom only had to pay 5 cents and they are so cute with the lace on them, but turns out there isn't a whole ton of baby clothes made in mint green, nor does mint green match with a bunch of stuff. That's probably why they were new at a rummage sale. Oh well.

8 Weeks Old Today!

Give me Some Props for Turning 8 Weeks!

Ok - maybe a different meaning of the word props, but I gave her some. She is propped up on the rocker in the nursery between a pillow & a boppy (which you can barely see, but it does have a new cover on it that Grandma M. made.) She's a pretty happy baby this morning.

Her Carter's outfit is compliments of our newest neighbors (I was going to say new, but they moved in last fall, so I guess they aren't really new). They have a baby boy that will be turning 1 soon. We thought it was very sweet of them to think of Isabel and buy her this little outfit. It is very soft and she seems to like being in it. It is a onesie & dress.

Daddy Gets Ahold of the Camera

Daddy took this picture when he was playing with her and her friends Pierre & Sandy. Right now dad is rocking her to sleep for her morning nap. It is so hot this weekend that I think we'll be indoors all weekend and Isabel will get a lot of quality time with dad, as it is too hot to do anything else, best just to stay relaxed in the a/c.

Big Silly Grin

Daddy just loves how she smiles so big. She is always at her happiest first thing in the morning, which makes me think she is not the child of either one of us. She's also pretty happy when you change her diaper and let her sit & air out for a while. She's not exactly fond of wearing diapers. Since she hates poop & hates diapers, my fingers are crossed that she will be an easy one to potty train later.

Her first sleeping stint last night was only 4 hours, but she pulled a Houdini & wiggled her way out of her swaddling and woke herself up with her arms.

Yesterday, Grandma M. got her to drink a little out of the bottle, but she still won't drink the whole thing. Such a stubborn girl. I think we are going to try feeding by a syringe or cup feeding next.

New (Better?) Swing

Maybe baby Isabel like to cradle rock better. We are starting a collection of swings at our house. I bought this off of eBay for $39 (& they delivered it to me too!) rather than $100+ price tag this has at most retailers. She seems to enjoy it. She has been in it twice today, not for long periods, but for about 15-20 minutes. She does like to look up at the fish & light. So, maybe this one will be a winner.

Fingers Crossed

So Refreshed After a Good Night's Sleep

I am keeping my fingers crossed that she is starting to "sleep through the night" (all books say the definition of that is 5 or more straight hours, although daddy thinks it should be from the moment we put her down until we all wake up - but that's not fair, daddy tries to sleep in to 10 or later on weekends.) Anyways, last night the first segment was 7.25 hours (yes! over 7 hours, it was amazing!) and then she followed that up with a 2 hour segment. The night before her first segment was 6 hours. So, I am keeping my fingers crossed, but I am not holding my breath.

Daddy Makes Her Laugh

Here she is playing with daddy. He is making funny sounds and faces at her. A lot of people have been telling me/him/us that she looks like him. I think he is pretty proud of that. Maybe she'll start to look more like mom as she grows older.

Last night her daycare provider came over to meet her. It went well and I feel better about letting her take care of Isabel. She seems to know what to do to calm her. We'll go visit the daycare a few times this summer. We go right by there when we go for our walks. Now, if we can only get her to take a bottle. Grandma M. is coming over today to relieve mom for a bit and try to get her to take a bottle. I hope she doesn't feel too pressured to try to make that happen. I am not expecting it to happen. I am expecting my stubborn child to remain that way. I have been reading online about cup feeding (here's another one) and that might be what we try next. Bottle feeding might just never be her thing.

This is an outfit you have seen before that came from Aunt Phanie. It may be the last time she gets to wear it.

Like Mother, Like Daughter? Like Dad?

Boy, am I full of questions today.

I thought it would be interesting to see when mom hit certain milestones & when Isabel hits them. I don't have daddy's baby book (although he was the youngest, so there might not be anything in it - mine -- being the oldest -- has quite a bit for the first year until my brother was born), so if Grandma M. has this info written down in his baby book or remembers, it would be good to compare his stuff with Isabel's as well. Gives us some idea of when we might expect her to reach these milestones as well.

__________Mom_____ Isabel______ Dad
First Smile___ 4 weeks____ 4 weeks
First Laugh___4 weeks____ 6 weeks______12 weeks
Rolled Over__12 weeks____******* ______15 weeks
Walked (w/help)_20 weeks
First Tooth___29 weeks
Stood Up____30 weeks____******* ______7 1/2 mo.
Sat Up______24 weeks ___******** ______6 mo.
Waved Bye___28 weeks
Crawled_____31 weeks____*******______8 mo.
Walked Alone _9 1/2 mo.
Walked across Room_11 mo.
Drank from Cup_11 3/4 mo.
Reaches for Object________******* ______3 1/2 mo.
Picks Up Objects_________******** _______4 mo.
It says what my first words were, but not when.

Comments about my teeth - wow! I was pretty old for my first tooth, wasn't I. But after they started coming, they didn't stop. I got another one 2 weeks later, then 2 more a month after the second, 2 more after the four, 2 more after the 6, then a 3 month break and got 2 more, then a 2 month break and got 2 more, then a 2 month break and got 3 more.....and then molars later....

Progress?

Yesterday we went to visit some friends and she did ok. A little fussy, but not too bad. But taking naps was not her forte yesterday. She would sleep for 45 minutes stretches, all day. So, mom didn't get a whole lot accomplished. But usually when her day isn't the greatest, her night will be better & vice versa. She struggled to stay asleep in the beginning for nighttime sleep, but once down she slept 6 hours in her first stretch. Yeah! And then 2.5 hours the second stretch, which probably would have been longer had she not filled her diaper, and we know how she feels about a poopy diaper. And then it was 5:30am and she was up. I like it better when she wakes up at 6/6:30, not this 5/5:30 stuff. Who would have ever thought I would say I like getting up at 6/6:30? Now if we could only get daddy to get up earlier. I almost wish we were doing formula so he had to get his butt out of bed.

Yesterday evening she even sat in the swing for 20 minutes, normally she hates the swing and cries after 2 minutes. But every once in a while I try again. So after 20 minutes then she had enough and I put her on her playmat on the main level and put the heartbeat bear there too. She scooted over a foot towards the bear, although I am not sure it was for the bear or trying to get closer to the TV to watch the Simpsons. But she did both those things for 20 minutes a piece and it allowed me time to make & eat dinner, as daddy wasn't home yet to take her off my hands. She has never been content being awake & not being cuddled or entertained by someone for that long of time. It might have been a fluke, but I'll take it.

Today's outfit is a RL polo dress (again, a 6 mo. one) & some Gymboree socks. The socks have little pink & black cats on them. Aren't they cute?

Isabel on 7/12/06

All Dressed and Some Place to Go

Again, another 3-6 month outfit. Hmmmm.....these are fitting her too well. She better slow down in her growth or we'll be wearing 6-9 month soon. This is a cute little Gymboree romper that mom bought.

Today we are going to visit mom's friend April and her 2 boys, Kallen & Noah. Noah is about a month and a half older than Isabel.

Very Happy!

At 5:30am?, can she really be our child?

So, How Big Are You?

Yesterday, she weighed in at 12 pounds, 12 ounces. That is 1 ounce shy of a 1.5 pound gain over the 2 weeks. So, still continuing the 3/4 pound a week weight gain. And again, they tell me that will slow down. I did see a 6 month old there that was only about 3.5 pounds more than her and didn't look much longer. The only real difference was that little girl had a lot more hair and could hold her head up.

Such a Big Girl!

Can You Guess How Big I Am?

Isabel is now 7 1/2 weeks old and she is growing so fast. Today we will go to the Newborn Clinic to get her weight. Her last weight was 11lb. 5 oz. and that was 2 weeks ago. But she has grown a lot in the last week. I took her head & length measurements this morning and they both have increased quite a bit. Her head increased another 1/2" and the circumference is now 16" (2 inches larger than birth) and her length has increased an inch in the last week and now she measures 24" (which is 2 3/4" longer than birth). She's just a little weed.

So, any guesses on how much she will weigh this afternoon? I am guessing she is going to weigh 13 pounds even. Post your guesses!

Peek-a-boo!

You can see just how long she is getting in this picture. Pretty soon she won't fit on her activity mat. I'm going to have to get a slip-n-slide for her to lay on so that I have the length covered.

Her outfit today is this cute little Ralph Lauren romper. It says it is a 6mo. outfit, but honestly, Ralph Lauren runs small in babies the same way it tends to run smaller in adults. I don't there there is really any 0-3 months clothes left that will fit her except for a couple pairs of shorts & shirts (no onesies or sleepers or anything that has to fit a certain length.)

We've started putting her down for naps or sleep unswaddled some of the time. She's really wanting to move around a lot, but does seem to have more control of her arms. Plus she's become Houdini and is wigling out of her swaddle to get her arms free (doesn't care as much about getting her legs free, but I don't swaddle the bottom half very tight.) She is much noiser when she is unswaddled (except for when she sleeps next to mom unswaddled, she has always done that very well, but just being next to mom must be comforting.) So, I think this week will be a little tiring for mom as I let her sleep unswaddled more & more, because that will mean I will probably have to rock her back to sleep when she has trouble transitioning between sleep stages. But I know in the end it will be worth it. Right now it is a pain in the butt to have to unswaddle her (which wakes her) to check her diaper, you can't quietly change her diaper with minimal disturbance yet. Plus, you can't do the limp-baby test (pick up their arm) to see which stage of sleep they are in, when their arms are tight to their body you can only guess most of the time and can be wrong and they may wake when you put them down & you have to start all over again.

I think this week we'll do the unswaddling thing during the day & work towards adding in nighttime unswaddling. I'm also getting her in her crib more instead of the bassinet, which is about to leave due to her recent length increase.

Now, if we could only transition her to taking a bottle of breastmilk.

Visit to WI

Just Hanging Out

Dad says I looks like I am the chiquita banana lady is this Gymboree outfit. Mom thinks I look cute. It's halter dress with a matching diaper cover, but we didn't get any pictures take of the back, which is very cute. Bare back baby & all!

Here Isabel is just hanging out on the floor on a blanket @ Grandma & Grandpa S's house. We made it there. The trip went relatively smoothly and only took us an extra 45 minutes. So, it was 6 hours, rather than 5.25 hours. We only had to stop twice for nuring & changing. Both on the way there & back. The trip on the way back took a little bit longer, as we stopped at daddy's work so that he could show her off. Some people just go gaga over babies.

Playing with Dad

Dad & Isabel are hanging out in the "family" bedroom. Right now we are the only one with a baby, so we get the big room with the crib in it. If Auntie Phanie & Uncle J have a baby we might get kicked out of there once Isabel gets older, but they don't have plans to have a baby until after she would no longer be in a crib anyways.

Dad kept making Isabel giggle & smile. She likes playing with him. He makes such funny noises.

Getting to Know Grandma S.

Here is Isabel with Grandma S. Isabel got in a alot of holding time with Grandma S. Grandma S. seemed particularly fond of taking her when she was crying and then within minutes she had her not just calm, but sleeping. She tried getting her to take a pacifier (we brought 2 of the 4 kinds we have along), but Isabel just doesn't like taking a pacifier really.

This was Sunday and we went to the church picnic "Summerfest" and had lunch, played this card game (dad was luckier than mom) and got to meet a bunch of other family like great grandma & great grandpa S., some second cousins & other great aunts & uncles, and her great-great aunt Mary and a bunch of other people mom knew growing up.

Being Held by Grandpa S.

This was the second morning and by time Grandpa S. got to her her this morning she was ready to be put down for her first morning nap, so she was a little cranky (but not too bad, but we just couldn't get her to smile for the camera).

Grandpa S. wasn't sure about holding such a little one, but he did a great job, but he's looking forward to when she can walk & play more.

7 Weeks in her Farm Clothes

Just Giddy With Excitement!

Here Isabel is wearing her farm clothes, not to be confused with barn clothes. In a few hours we are going to attempt to make the 5.5 hour drive to my parents farm so that the family there can meet her (my parents, my brother, my grandparents.) Anyone want to make bets on how long it will take us to get there? I am thinking 7 hours, Daddy says 8, our neighbor thinks it will be longer than 8. If it's taking longer than 8, than I think we are heading in the wrong direction & should be heading back home.

I just love this little Gymboree top (bought off of eBay), but didn't have anything to match it with until I found these pants at Carters. So cute! The little flowers have buttons on them (on both top & pants.)

Roadtrip!

Let's hope the happiness continues today.

She may need to be put to work once we get there, as she made daddy & I work hard last night trying to get her to go to sleep. I put her down at her normal bedtime, but she woke up after 45 minutes and we couldn't get her back down for 3 hours! She would come so close SO MANY TIMES! but then just bolt awake. It didn't help that she kept pooping her diaper and we had to keep changing. She would just poop a little at a time, but she needs to be changed right away or there will be no hope of her falling asleep. I think we changed her about 5 times in that 3 hours.

So, she slept 45 min., 4 hours, and then 2.5 hours. So, she's missing some much needed sleep. Maybe she'll sleep good on the car ride across Wisconsin. She seems unable to have a great day & great night. It's either one or the other. I would settle for middle of the road on both, but she seems to like making things a bit of a rollarcoaster for us.

Does this look like the face of a troublemaker?

If you would have asked me last night, I would have said YES! But today, she's happy and went down easily for her first nap (although she generally does, but she has trouble transitioning from light & deep sleep phases and wakes up after 45 minutes.) We'll be hitting 45 minutes here in 15 minutes and we'll see if she stays asleep. If her first nap starts out not so good, they usually continue that way all day and we could be in for a long day. I am just mentally preparing myself for the worst for this trip, because either that will come true and it won't be as bad because I expected it or it will be better, in which case - yeah!

Uploading Video?

Check it out -- a short video of Isabel. Let us know if this works well, and we'll do more in the future.


I dare you to tell me she's not the cutest baby in the world!

Where Does Isabel From?

Some people ask us where Isabel comes from. We should just answer, “From her mom & dad!” But what they want to know is how did we pick out her name.

Well, Isabel is the middle name of mommy’s late maternal grandmother. Her middle name, Grace, is something both mommy & daddy liked and has no family significance.

And in case you are wondering, she has just dad’s last name. It isn’t hyphenated like mom’s.

Today's Photo Shoot

I am Superbaby!

Today's outfit is brought to you by mommy's friend Jill. You might remember she sponsored an outfit previously that was pink & had a cat on it (this has a small cat on it.) This outfit is from the Children's Place.

Say Cheese!

Mommy was talking in a high-pitched voice asking Isabel to smile. Here she is hamming it up for the camera.

Doing Time?

Daddy told Isabel this morning that she looked like she was wearing a prison outfit for baby girls. You can see she is surrounded by bars.

Baby Isabel Quirks

Everyone has their little quirks, some of these might be more common than others, but I thought I would tell you about some of Isabel's.

• She can spread her big toe & pinky toe out while keeping the 3 in the middle tightly together. Go ahead - try it - I betcha can't do it.
• She hates it when her head sticks to your arm, so you better be wearing long sleeves or put a burp rag or a blanket over your arm. Otherwise, it will prevent her from falling asleep.
• She frequently leaves skid marks in her diaper when she farts (not always, but a lot of the time). And she farts a lot!
• She hates even the tiniest bit of poop (like the stuff from her skidmarks) touching her and will fuss to get her diaper removed IMMEDIATELY!
• When she is falling aleep she will close her eyelids half way, but have her eyes rolled in the back of her head so all you see is the whites. Very creepy.
• She gave mom a boob hickey the other day. I was so empty that my skin was all sorts of loose and she just sucked in a chunk of my boob about a half inch away from the nipple. She wasn't there long, but sucks so hard that it left a mark and there was no mistakingt hat I had a hickey on my boob.

Daddy is going to show me later how to take video & put it on the blog so that you can actually see her in action.

Let's Get This Party Started!

Woohoo!

"I finally got this darn shoe off! She never makes me wear shoes and now she decides to put them on me for these pictures and when we go visiting this afternoon."

Yesterday didn't end as such a Happy 4th....we had the darndest time trying to get her down to sleep. Since was the 4th, there were people out there shooting off bottle rockets & fireworks. Ok - I first got her down to sleep @ 7:00, but a half hour later a neighbor starts shoots off a bunch f bottle rockets. She wakes up. This cycle continues for 2 hours, with all of us getting more & more tired and more & more crabby.

Today, we are going to go visit Rebecca & David & their kids (& other guests they invited). They are having a chimichanga feast this evening. Sounds yummy.

She woke up a little early today ( 5:30, rather than 6am) and was in a really good mood. Hopefully that continues throughout the day. Mom is definitly going to need a nap today!

This routine thing is working well for us. I think it helps both mom & Isabel to know they are doing the same things in the same order at roughly the same time every day.

In the morning, when I nurse her back to sleep for her first nap, we listen to Shaina Noll's CD, Songs for the Inner Child. Mom sings the first 2 songs to her, "How Could Anyone" & "It's a Joy to Get to Know You" and usually she falls asleep nursing by the time I finish the 2nd song. It's a very nice, calming CD. Mom found out about it when she was taking her Meditation Class @ St. Mary's University.

Happy! Happy!

She's Happy!

Isabel has many happy wishes for everyone.

Happy Fourth of July!

Happy Birthday Uncle Al!

Happy Day!

I have a little red flower snappy thing in my hair. It's pretty light so I can actually wear it and it doesn't slip out or pull on my hair. It just adds to my cuteness. Do you like how festive mom dressed me? I wonder what she'll do at Thanksgiving, Christmas, & Easter. Oh! And we can't forget Halloween. As long as they are comfortable, I don't fuss about what she puts me in.

Just another pose of me. We don't have a weight this week, since the Newborn Clinic is not open due to the holiady. But mom did take head and length measurements. I am still 23" long, but my head grew to 15.5" in circumference (that's again of 1/4" over lst week.)

This picture wasn't really in focus, but mom thought I looked cute and had to post it.

We hope she has another great day. Yesterday was really nice. She giggled for the first time and was really interactive in her play. Daddy was able to watch a sample DVD from Beechnut with her. It was a freebie and had 10 minutes of Classical music put to animation & images. After 7 minutes she fussed a little, it maybe that was her limit of TV images or she didn't like the little "cartoon musical" that was on, the images where a little busy. Although, when we did that exercise DVD yesterday she handled the 6 minutes of the 1st one and only about a minute of the second one, so maybe around 7 minutes is her limit. I do have some other developmental videos (same thing - classical music to animation & images), but they are all 30 minutes. So, this little freebie is a keeper. It was very cute to watch her & daddy. He would explain all the things in the scenes and provide commentary.

I tried reading to her again, but she got fussy. She was more interested in eating than being read to. Some day soon she is bound to like being read to. I had tried a video 3 weeks ago and she had no interest in it them.

After reading a bunch of books about helping the baby organize her sleep & wake cycles I figured out a "schedule" (I use that word loosely, because it is still based on the baby's rhythms) she seems happier and we are happier because we're not always trying to get her to go to sleep. It also helps that she has more interest in things and we can do more with her rather than just holding her & rocking.

Last night she slept 3.5, 3, & 3. She might not be pulling those long sleep times like she did the other day, but I think that ws due to being up so long being fussy before bedtime. The first feeding time came when we came to bed (we actually got to hang out in the backyard having a bonfire with the neighbors, it was nice, no peep on the monitor from her.) So, really I only had to get up once in the middle of the night to feed her and then after it was morning.

What is also nice is that her elimination system is matureing more and she is not pooping all the time. The last 3-4 days she has not pooped at night, but then let's it all come out first thing after waking for the morning. So, I don't have to change her at every night feeding, which made it easier to get her back to sleep after feeding at that middle of the night feeding.

Today, when we were playing with Pierre, she did a really good job tracking and follownig with her head.

Smiles & Giggles

Introducing: Pierre & Sandy

Well, Isabel is starting to smile more and we don't have to work as hard to get those smiles. She smiles a lot at dad when she plays with him, probably because he sounsd so silly. Today was the first time she giggled, not a full blown laugh, but giggles. I wasn't there to see it. I missed it, but daddy was there. Actually, when he called me in to tell me I asked what he was doing with her, he said he was just playing with Pierre. I asked who Pierre was and he said it was the crab. He said Pierre even has a French accent (& is much like the crab in this commercial.) Daddy likes that commercial and laughs at it all the time. Pierre was a gift from our neighbor Cindy.

I told him she also likes the catepillar (something I bought) and daddy's response was, "Oh, you mean Sandy." We like to give her catepillar kisses with that one. We both do that and didn't even realize it until I saw him playing with it with her. I told him he has to let me know when he names her toys so I call them the same thing. He said he hadn't named anything else yet.

Daddy also can push her "buttons" right. He presses her chin and talks all high-pitched saying it's her chin, and she smiles. She also does it for her nose & ear, but when mom tries she just looks at me like I am not doing it right.

But I can get her smiling when we dance. She likes to dance with me. We usually dance to the Black Eyed Peas, but today for the first time we danced to Madonna's newest CD. She was being crabby and I put it on and she smiled and got quiet. I guess she likes Madonna. And she smiles while we dance. We only dance for 1 song during an active period. I don't want her to get too over stimulated and have trouble getting her down for a nap later.

We started doing this DVD, Leisa Hart: FitMama Postnatal Workout. There are sections for mom to do alone and then a "special features" section of baby & mom stuff. Pay no attention to the times listed on the DVD description, they are wrong. The "Dance with Me" part is 6 minutes. We've only done that one and she seems to like it. I tried to do the "Fitbaby" with her (which is 2.5 minutes), but that ws too much for her and she got fussy. Some otehr time we'll add it in. The "Tummy Time" is 3 minutes and "Quiet Time" is 2.5 minutes. The "Stroller Time" is just a short demonstration of what you can do in your stroller. I haven't done any of the mom only ones yet.

We (Isabel & I) try to go for a walk most days. It's been hot & humid so we haven't gotten out, but last night I put the Snugli on & walked on the treadmill with her for a while. She seemed to like the mirrors set up there on the walls nd since the treadmill is right next to the wall she was close enough to see herself. So, walking on the treadmill went just fine.

Pictures of Mommy & Isabel

Red Eyes

Isabel has red eyes in these photos, just like mom. Mom has always had red eyes in photos.

Isabel looked so cute that dad had to go get the camera and snap a few.

Savings Account for Isabel

I just opened a savings account for Isabel with Wells Fargo. They sure ask you a lot of information to find out anything about your account. They first give you this long disclosure about their anti-terrorism efforts & to prevent money laundering and that they are going to verfiy all sorts of things (name, middle inital, address, phone, DOB, account #, SSN, & DL #). Which they did ask for all of that.

It was nice though that I didn't need to go in. I could do everything over the phone and then they will send me the agreement in the mail to sign & mail back (which they said I should have within 2 business days.)

They don't tell you on their website that a minor does not have a monthly service fee and only needs a minimum of $25. So, that is one things I wanted to get done for her. I still need to go in & get a copy of her birth certificate (which I will need if I want to get her a passport, which we will need now if we ever want to travel anywhere out of the country with her.)

Play Time

I Can Hold a Rattle!

In that book (by the Sears Clan) there is a nice spreadsheet of infant development. I like spreadsheets, so this format works well for me. It's easier for me to see what skills (gross motor skills, hand skills & self-help, language & social skills, and cognitive skills) the baby should be mastering by what time. She was holding a rattle briefly about a month ago, at about 2 weeks. Briefly holdnig a rattle is a skill they master by 2 months. By 3 months they can hold it and shake it (which is what you see here - she's been doing that since last week). She is actually doing really well on her hand skills and has mastered prtty much all the hand skills through month 3 and is starting some in month 4. She actually mastered all the skills for month 1 and 2 (& some of 3) by the end of month 1, so now she's working on the skills for month 3 & 4.

I Spy Larry.

Here she is enjoying some tummy time. She's getting better at it. She used to tolerate it for about 2 minutes before she started crying. Now she can do it for 5-10 minutes (depending upon her mood that day.) You see her looking up at Larry (he's about 2 feet away.) More & more lately things are cathing her attention and she is turning her head to look at what it was. Like, the other day on our walk, this guy was driving an obnoxiously loud car and right after he passed up he reved his engine and she turned her head from center all the way to right towards the noise.

Babies Naturally Look to the Right.

Again, looknig in the mirror. Even though she likes the mirror she has to turn her head left to see, so she doesn't gaze at herself too long here and turns her head to the right and looks at other things. Last night I was reading in What to Expect The First Year and it says that all babies have a natural tendency to look to the right. It didn't say why, it just said. I decided to move her favorite crib mirror toy to the opposite side of the crib, but in the middle this time. So, we can choose which way we want her to face (L or R) when she plays with it. Plus it kinda got in the way when I would lower the crib gate when it was on that side.

It also said that babies dont like to look at things straight on, that they like to look at things fom an angle. So, if you play with them, put the toy at an angle. Or hang the mobile from the side of the crib and not directly over them.

I am getting at least one more wear out of this outfit. She was wearnig something else earlier, but needed to be changed. So, this was her 1 month outfit that I bought @ Carter's. It is so cute and I am glad I can get a couple wears out of it before it's too small. I hope I can get another wear out of her picture dress as well. Although she won't be weighed this Tuesday I will still measure her head & length. She seems even bigger that just a few days ago - well, I suppose she is going through her growth spurt. I wonder if she is going to get her daddy's height?

You know - it doesn't matter what order you click on the photos to upload, blogger inserts them in whatever order it wants. I had selected them in the order of 2, 3, 1 - but you see the order blogger chose.

6 Weeks Old Today!

Aren't I Cute?

Today she is 6 weeks old. It seems that around 6 weeks a lot of things start to change for her. She has a growth spurt (which I believe she is currently finishing), she starts sleeping longer at nights (her longest time is supposed to be betwee 4-6 hours), she takes 1 less naps and has more awake time (15-16 hours of sleep a day as opposed to 16-18.) She will start being more social, which means she will start to smile on her own & we don't have to coax it out of her, and she will become more fussy in the evening hours, because she wants to be around us more. She is supposed to be starting to show more interest in looking at toys (like mobiles, etc.), rather than just looking at herself in the mirror.


Other changes is that her bowel movements are supposed to decrease dramatically (that will be nice!) She should start to gain more control over her body (arms, legs, & head), which is good because her arms distract her quite a bit and that is one of the reasons she needs to be swaddled. So, maybe in a few weeks we won't have to swaddle her to be put down for naps (we'll start with unswaddling @ naps and work towards unswaddling @ night.)

I can see why people end up with many newborn clothes that never get worn. Her Tommy Hilfger dress she is wearing here is 3-6 months and I was thinking it looked too big for her, but decided to try it anyways and it fits great. The little onesie is a 0-3 and I think she may not get to wear this one again. Her growth should slow down here for a few weeks, so hopefully we can get some use out of this dress. I do have a 3-6 month onesie in the same color.

Last Night

Waaaaaaaaaah!

Crying Baby! I wanted a picture in her jammies in her bassinet, as you can tell, very soon she wil out grow both. This is the largest of her 0-3 month jammies, so I am not sure she can fit in the others. Lately we've been putting her to bed in a onesie & swaddling her (we always swaddle her unless she sleeps with us) as it was too warm for jammies & swaddling. She overheats pretty easily and gets heat rash and we don't want that happening. I've noticed we pretty much cannot take her outside for any length of time once it hits 80 or higher as she will overheat very quickly. I suppose walking her from an a/c house to an a/c car would be ok, but much longer than that and she'll get heat rash.

So, anyways, she was great yesterday (until daddy came home - which I believe is a coincidence.) Then she was doing her 1/2 hour or hour naps, and then staying awake for as long as she just napped and cluster feeding. Then when it was bedtime she wanted nothing to do with it. She's kind hard to figure out sometimes because the same trick doesn't consistently work (usually the breast does, but she had me so drained that wasn't working either.) We were trying everything, feeding by breast, feeding by bottle (she's not taking it again), rocking downstairs, rocking upstairs in a cool, dark room (this often works), walking her around, putting her in the pouch swaddled (this calmed her and she went into a light sleep, but woke up after I took her out - carefully trying not to wake her), swaddling, unswaddling, laying down with her her, laying down & nursing, running a hair dryer (this only temporarily distracted her) & running the vaccuum (this worked to calm her, but once it was turned off she started crying again - that was no good, we needed her to go to sleep.)

Both daddy & I were trying things, finally we tried the breast again and she ate on one side, but would not fall asleep. So, for the other side I took her upstairs and tried in the rocking chair there. She fell asleep, but no sooner did she fall asleep and get put in the bassinett than she woke up and started crying. Bah! Ok - I told her - this is the last thing I can do for you, after that you are going out to the curb. I brought her into bed with us, unswaddled her, and nursed her laying there. She nursed for about a minute and fell asleep. She had to be exhausted after all that. I know we were.

But she slept for 6 hours (11p-5a) and then 3 hours (5:30-8:30a). The night before we had a tough time getting her down, but not this tough. I hope that there is no correlation between sleeping longer periods at night and degree of roughness trying to get her to sleep.