3 Month Picture Comparisons

Daddy

This is daddy at 3 months old.

I thought it would be neat to compare our pictures with Isabel if we have pictures taken around the same time. The next time we both had pictures taken was at 7 months. Mom had a lot more pictures taken, but she was the oldest and daddy was the youngest.

Daddy was laughing at his picture and said he had a big head and some big ears. His smile in here is how usually Isabel smiles in the pictures we take at home.

Isabel

I opted to put in the color picture of her since our pictures were in color. I put her picture between ours so that you could have her picture near both of ours and look for any similarities.

Isabel certainly has more hair than either on of us at 3 months.

Mommy

Daddy says I have a goofy smirk on my face. Well, maybe I was farting or something - did you ever think of that?

When I see these pictures of all of us at 3 months I do think she looks like me. We have the same eye shape. Makes me feel good to see that my baby girl looks like me.

She definitly is chubby like the two of us.

Sleepy Baby

You can tell by looking at the picture that she is very sleepy. But you can also tell that she can sit up nicely propped in the chair, not like before where she would start to lean.

Yesterday was her first full day of daycare w/o mom stopping by (the other full day I came at lunch time to feed her). She did just fine. She is starting to get the hang of the bottle. She drank 2oz., then 2.5oz. from her daycare provider. So, mom didn't need to run back to feed her. I picked her up @ 3pm, which was when the next feeding would be. I feed her right before I drop her off and then she should take 4-6 ounces (right now) while at daycare and then feed again once we get home (daycare if only a couple minutes away.) And then a final feeding (a long one) right before bed. Well, at least that has what she has been needing. So, we are getting down to 4-5 feedings a day.

She took 3 short naps at daycare which added up to 2 hours, which is not enough. But she just likes to watch those kids so much, plus she is a light sleeper, so I imagine she wakes up if they get a little noisy. But after she fed once we got home she took a 2 hour nap. Yeah! She really needs to be getting in 4 hours of naps, otherwise she gets to tired.

She slept 11 hours straight last night, yesterday it was only 10 hours (but that was because she had troubles going down to sleep and then I had to wake her to get her ready adn feed her before we left.)

She also likes to play in the morning with her mirrored crib toy, so I need to allow time (10-15 minutes) for that every morning as well. She really likes it if you let her play naked in her crib, which I do in the morning so that her bottom can get some air since she just spent 11 hours in the same diaper. We've been able to ward off any diaper rash by doing this and changing her frequently. If I start to see any bumps or redness I just put some diaper rash cream on it and it's gone by the next changing.

Her little outfit today is a vintage b.t. kids one that mommy picked up on eBay. Very cute!

Tomorrow she gets a full day with mommy and we are going to visit with our friend Carrie in the morning. We don't really have any plans for Labor Day weekend. I think we'll just stay around home and relax - maybe get a few things done if we feel motivated.

Very Summery

She spent the morning at daycare today. She hasn't napped too well there because she likes watching the kids so much. I have seen her fight sleep when we go places where there are young kisd to watch. The daycare lady said she did really well again and just likes to sit there and watch the bigger kids. She said that while she was sitting on her lap and the biogger kids were dancing, Isabel was moving around and shaking trying to dance too. I am sure she looked cute.

I took her to the Newborn Clinic today and she weighs 15 pounds 11 ounces. So, her weightgain has slowed down; it was only a 3 ounce gain this week. She got several compliments are her outfit today.

This is a vintage outfit that mom purchased off of eBay.

Today in her carseat she figured out how to spin the items on her toy bar. I just put it up about a week ago and she was grabbing the rings and holding them and swiping at stuff, but never quite made contact. Today she just kept spinning & spinning stuff and was all smiles. She's pretty proud of herself. It's so neat when you watch her learn how to do something new and she has fun with it.

Last Couple Full Days w/ Mom This Week

Well, I don’t know if I would call it a developing pattern quite yet. She slept 8.25hours in a row, but got up way too early for us to stay up. So, I put her back to sleep and she slept for another 3 hours.

She’s been very clingy & cranky again today and nursing for long periods of time. She did take a 1.25 hour nap this morning and I just put her down for an afternoon nap. It would be great if she took a 2 hour nap. I would like to shower sometime and maybe can some pickles.
I did manage to get her into that Monday evening class. They only have 8 spots, so I just kept hitting redial until I got through. It will start on September 11th. And it’s in the early evening, so hopefully dad can make some of them. I was told that there are usually 3-4 dad there every time (sometimes w/ mom, sometimes w/o mom.)

Today's outfit is a vintage one compliments of Karen's little girl Olivia.

This week she is w/ mom full-time just on Monday & Friday.

Experimentation?

So, last night was 10 hours straight. Although I went to bed a little later than normal, so I only got 7 hours of sleep. She was pretty clingy today and wasn't a good napper. She took 3 naps, but they were relatively short (two 1-hours naps and one 1/2 hour nap) and she wanted to be held and nurse all the time. She is down to sleep tonight already (@7:50, she usually goes to bed between 8-8:30) and hopefully I can say it was a developing pattern.

When she played with grandma M. we found out she thinks it's funny when we rub her belly with her toes. So, daddy decided to push it further and tickle her nose with her toes and say "Toes to Nose" in a sing-songy voice. She thinks that is hilarious. She also thinks it's fun if you stick her toes in her mouth.

She now has been having one big poop a day and little sharts. That started happening the same time as she started sleeping completly through the night. You wouldn't think that someone would be so excited their kid poops one big poop a day, but I am. At birth she pooped & peed everytime she ate (which was every 2 hours), which was a lot of changing. Over the last 3 months that has lessened to 2 big ones a day and then little ones when she hiccups or sneezes or farts or coughs. It is still a very liquidy seedy stool, but now it has only been once a day.

What else is new with our little angel? Well, tomorrow sometime she will be using up the rest of her size 2 diapers and graduating to size 3 diapers. Size 3 are for 16-28 pounds.

Saturday I went to a rummage sale for the Habitat for Humanity that Carrie was helping with and picked up some books and a couple pieces of clothing for her. I didn't have time to go to any others, as she was giving dad a hard time at home.

This week she'll go to day care 2 half days and 1 full day and dad is staying home with her 1 half day. And then the week after I am back to work fulltime and she'll be at daycare fulltime.

Tomorrow I will try to take a picture. Like I said she was clingy and wanted to be held & nursed....so she wasn't very aggreable for a picture, plus I think it was all stuff you've seen before. She was very cute all dressed in pink.

Fluke? Coincidence? Experimentation? Developing Pattern? Habit?

So, yesterday’s sleeping 11 hours straight might have been a fluke if it only happened the one time. I am not discounting that it happened, but you just don’t want to get your hopes up until it happens a lot, in a row. I remember reading somewhere that it had to happen five times in a row to be considered a habit or mastered.

Well, that bring us to last night. She slept 11 hours in a row. Now could this be a coincidence? Is she does it a third time I am calling it experimentation, a fourth time it is a developing pattern and finally the fifth time she will have mastered it and it will be a habit.

Even if it is a coincidence, I still got 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep, which was so nice. I didn’t get up to check on her until my 8 hours was up. She moved around a little when I went in there (as she is a light sleeper), but went right back to sleep. I do hope this continues.

This woman wrote that three months seemed to be the magic number and her babies were sleeping completely through.

Yesterday we went to visit grandma & grandpa M. while daddy was helping out one of his brothers. She kept going between happy & frustrated, no in-between. She’s starting to grab at toys more now and is enjoying her toys we hang on her car seat or stroller. On the drive home yesterday she kept herself busy playing with the car seat arch (it’s like this, same brand but different creatures). This was the only one I could find to use for her car seat in daddy’s car because she has a convertible car seat in there, so there is no bar to hang/attach anything to. And when she got bored with that she started sucking on her fist for a while, then went back to playing and finally fell asleep for the last 15 minutes (of about an hour & 15 minutes drive). She is starting to do a good job of entertaining herself when she needs to.

14 Weeks Old

Well Dressed!

This kid dresses much better than her parents do. Today's outfit are a couple of new pieces mom bought and some socks that were part of a gift from mom's work-friend Sally. The top is from Oilily and has little embroidered pink flowers w/ green leaves on it, which have a white flower embroidered around each one. The skirt is from Oshkosh B'Gosh (they make their things big {& durable}, so this skirt is a size 3-6 mo.) The socks are Oshkosh B'Gosh. They came with another outfit, but that one is 6-9mo. So, we'll probably actually wear that one when she is 6 months since they make stuff big. It's such a cute out (the 6-9mo. Oshkosh one.). This one is very cute too!

Woohoo!

Real Laughs

She has been giggling for a long time, but last night (during a pretty nasty storm) she was laughing with dad and actually had a hearty laugh and not jus giggles. She giggles a lot, but we didn't have the hearty laugh until now.

Also last night she slept 11 hours straight. This is the first time I did not have to get up in the middle of the night to feed her. Granted I was leaking all over the place all night and hurting in the morning, but she made it through the night with no additional feeding for the first time. I did have to go check on her several times (well, the first couple times was because of the loud thunder from the storm, I wasn't sure if it would scare her but she didn't seem scared at all because of the storm just annoyed at the loud sirens going off, and I did check on her once in the early morning because she hadn't woke yet.)

Today's outfit consists of this froggie onesie compliments of Olivia's hand-me-downs and some Gymboree pants mom bought.

Introducing Solids Foods

So, I bought this book, First Foods, and as it did give a lot of advice and answered a lot of questions it didn't give me one thing I didn't realize I wanted when I got the book. And that is a simple chart. So, after reading the book I went though it and made my own chart and then found various other charts on the internet, although they were not very condensed. I wanted something on one sheet & that's it. It's just not out there, so I created my own chart of when to introduce solid foods to the baby. And if I am going to all the trouble to make it, I might as well share it. I think this will be helpful when daddy is feeding her, as he's not doing all the reading I am doing -- just listening to me tell him everything I learned.

Hopefully you can click on this to make it bigger. If you can't and want a copy, just post a comment that you want me to email you a copy.

We plan to start her on this rice cereal (well, this brand, but in rice, not whole grain) at 4 months. Or at least try. She seems interested in food already. She watched me eat and licks her lips when she watches.

We have started brushing (massaging) her gums. Someone gave me this finger brush w/ baby toothpaste (we arent use the paste though) and are massaging her gums. She's ok with it. So, hopefully she will be used to it and when she does start getting those "teefers" it will be ok. Plus, I read that when they start teething (which I don't think she is yet) they like having their gums massaged. We brush/massage every morning as part of the get ready routine & every night as part of the bedtime routine.

Good Baby

Sucking Her Fist

Today's outfit is a vintage one. She's a little strawberry. Daddy & I took her out to eat for breakfast with us this morning and she slept in the car on the way there and the entire time we were at the restaurant. She got up right at the end. She is getting so much easier to take places; it's nice.

3 Month #'s

Weight Chart/ Percentiles

Her 3 month weight is 15 pounds 8 ounces, so she gained less than a pound in the last weeks. So, finally it has started to slow down. When I put in her weight & length it said she was in the 95th percentile (for both), but you can clearly see that she isn't.

Length Chart/ Percentiles

And length is 26". That really is long and not even close to 95th percentile. When you look at where 6 months is on both charts you can see why people keep mistaking her for being a 6 month old. Her head is 16.5", which puts her in the 75th percentile.

We went to storytime at the library today and a Kindermusik educator was doing a class....so it lasted 45 minutes rather than 30 minutes. I thought even the 30 minutes might push Isabel's limits, but she did fantastic. She just loves watching all the other kids. She is going to be a social butterfly.

We picked up some new books at the library. I only had a chance to read one of those to her so far this afternoon, I Love Guinea Pigs. It's an interesting & educational book. I had to quickly grab books today, because after the session, she was tired and started to get a little cranky.

So, those were our big plans for the week, nothing really else going on the rest of the week. Although, I did find out the days/times for the Owatonna ECFE classes. We can register on Monday and they only have the one evening one, so we might not get in. But we can always do the Medford ECFE evening class.

Library Book Review

I picked these randomly. Actually, I looked at what books they had on display and looked inside to see if the story was long enough to last at least half way through a feeding. That was how I picked them out. I read them all to her today.

Do You Have a Hat? I really enjoyed this one. I loved the illustrations and the premisis for the story. I also liked the little bits of history lessons it offered. This one I will hang onto for a little bit and read a few more times to her.

The Black Geese: a Baba Yaga Story from Russia I wasn't sure if I would like this one. It's basically an old Russian folk tale. The drawings are very folkish as well. I actually found myself wanting to know what would happen in the end. So, two thumbs up for this book. This one I will hold onto as well and read a few more times.

My Mother's Apron The story made me think about my own great grandma S. but it was just telling you about her apron. Nothing happened. Reading it once was fine, but I am not sure an older child would like it. There is no "what is going to happen" or lesson to be learned. It's just about an apron. As it did bring back memories for me, my child will have no memories of someone always wearing an apron and the things they would do with it. I'm returning this one tomorrow.

Tomorrow I am hoping to take her to the library for storytime (in the morning). A Kindermusik educator is going to be leading, so I thought she might get a kick out of the musical instruments. So, I plan to pick up some more books to read over the next week. And also in the afternoon I plan to take her to the newborn clinic to get her 3 month measurements and see what percentile she falls into. I'm guessing the upper 90's for both weight and length. She is a very solid baby.

A New Week

She has taken an interest in looking at the mobile the last couple of weeks. Actually - she looks scared in this picture. All of them I took she either looked scared or unhappy -- she was tired & hungry.

I am not sure if her recent interest was because she was rarely in her crib the first 2 months or if it had to do with the distance she could see (babies can't focus accurately in the first 2 months) or the fact that I made a normal parenting mistake and bought a mobile in something I think would look nice in the crib and not something she would be attracted to (although, this seems to be controversial a little.) But anyways, she likes looking at it for a little while now anyways.

She's been kicking at the crib piano thing (a version of this.) I am not sure how intentional it is yet or if she just likes to kick a lot.

Today I went to the library to pick up a CD for myself and a couple books to read to Isabel (we have a lot of books, but when you read her a couple books a day you end up repeating a lot and I need a break from some.) Anyways -- I new you could check out toys from there, so I had to see what was available. You can also check out Leappads and cartridges too, plus a bunhc of other games and montesorri approved items. Just interesting.....

Winkflash.com Coupon

I saw this in Parenting magazine when I was getting my haircut.

50 free 4x6 prints with your first order. Code: MX54WD73

And they have a 99 cent flat rate shipping. So, have fun getting pictures.

3 Months Old

Look How Big My Eyes Are!

She may start to look like mommy a little bit after all. Her cute little outfit is just beautiful. Mommy bought it for her. It is by Tommy Hilfiger. It is a white flower eyelet over the top of of a yellow lining. When mommy brought her into the kicthen today to see daddy as he was finishing making pancakes he asked what the special occasion was. She's 3 Months Old!

All Smiles

She's such a happy baby in the morning. She is laying over one of the swaddling blankets her grandma M. made for her. This afternoon we are going to try to go to church. We haven't been there since she has been born. It's not that we didn't want to go, but it's an hour away and it's in the early evening (her crabby time) and they have no AC (hot summer paired with heat rash prone baby = no fun!) So, it's supposed to be nice today and so far she's in a good mood.....so maybe.

Another Growth Spurt is Here

She is nursing a lot like the last two and she also wants to be held a lot, like the last two. And it is time for one.....so it must be. It's a good thing I'm home with her all week and the only plans we have is to go to the newborn clinic to get a weight. Hopefully she stays down for a good chunk of sleep tonight; she did last night. She's been working on stretching her longest night stint to 8 hours. Woohoo!

On another note -- she went through 3 outfits today. The 2nd one was new and we never even got a picture of her in it. Oh well. She hasn't gone through that many in a while. I've officially decided she is in 6-9 month clothes. 3-6 month stuff just isn't long enough.....6-9 month stuff is a little long in the legs, but it's better than being too small.

Other Pictures by Skye

Some See Things Black & White, We See Them Black & Red

I have been hearing from a lot of people that they really enjoy Skye's pictures she took of the baby. Skye first took pictures for/of me 2 years ago. You can check out other pictures she has taken on her blog. This picture is of me with my mom & 2 sisters. It was fun doing these pictures. We did some individually, as well as together, and Steph w/ Jason (see below) and Miranda with her friend who was along.

Younger & Thinner (& Childless)

I don't care what anyone else thinks - I think I looked hot in this picture. I am not sure if I will ever fit in those jeans again. I am pretty much back to my pre-pregnancy weight, but my hips are still wider and my belly is still all squishy. I actually just went though all my clothes and got rid of everything that doesn't fit right now. I made 2 piles: 1 to give away and 1 to keep because I can get in them but they are a little tight (or not appropriate for a mom who is almost 30)

Don't They Look Sweet?!?!

Awwwww! They look so cute together. If you know them you will know that this picture is of them when they were younger, but not thinner. They have been on weight watchers for over a year now and have lost a ton of weight. Actually, it seems like everyone in my family is on weight watchers. They are all losing a bunch of weight & are looking great (my mom, both sisters & their husbands.) My dad & brother are only on weight watchers by default -- you know since mom is on it then they end up sorta being on it too. We were on it before we got pregnant and were doing well, but since I got pregnant and had to go off it Andy wasn't really on it anymore either. Maybe after I am done breastfeeding I may try it again -- so that I can fit back into those clothes again and make my waist & hips smaller.

13 Weeks Old

I'm Kinda Flippin' You Off in This Picture

Could something this sweet really be flipping you off? I knew I would get a picture with it in one of these days, as she naturally seems to like sticking her fingers out one at a time and seems fond of the middle one.

She is 13 weeks old today. Tomorrow she will be 3 months old. She is so different all the time. It truly is amazing. When she wasn't feeling well and we had her sleep with us the other day, it was weird because the last time she slept with us she was this little curled up baby, now, as daddy puts it - she's this big lump of a baby. There is no mistaking she is sleeping there (well, especially when she is flailing all over the place, punching & kicking.) Maybe I'll stop having nightmares that the baby is wrapped up in the sheets since now she is so big. It's driving daddy nuts I am sure because he keeps being roused by someone (me!) digging in the sheets trying to find the baby (who isn't there -- she's soundly sleeping in her crib in her own room.) Poor guy can't figure out how to get me to realize I am dreaming and I should just go back to sleep.

Just Try & Stop Me From Rolling Over

I was trying to do some bare bottom shots of Isabel, but she wasn't very cooperative. She kept rolling over on me. So, here you see me holding her from rolling over. She really likes having her diaper off (although that made more messes for mom to clean, as she wet the crib sheet and a blanket) because she can really get her legs moving. If I put her in pants she doesn't try to roll over so much, but if she is naked or just in a diaper or had a diaper cover on she uses her knees to help push herself over. I did manage to get some cute shots, as well as a reason to wash some more laundry.

I have apologized to Isabel several times for giving her a dimply butt. I always thought it was cellulite on me, but can a baby have cellulite? So, maybe our dimply butt is hereditary. That's what I am going with.

All Congested

Check Out My Backside.

The back of this outfit is very cute. It is the backside of the bears that appear on the front. This is a new outfit I bought that is made of 100% organic cotton. It's very soft. It's a little big on her, but if I wait until it fits perfectly it will be too late.

I'm All Stuffed Up.

Yesterday we noticed she had a cold. Is it any coincidence that 2 days after she spent 2 days in daycare that she gets a cold. No fever, minimal diarrhea, but a runny nose (& since she's on her back all the time it runs into her throat & chest - so she's coughing to get rid of that.) It's all clear/milky in color, so it's nothing to worry about. She slept with us last night and she must have thought it was a freaking slumber party because she did not want to go to sleep until I swaddled her and brought her back to bed. Finally a few hours of sleep. I hope she takes some good naps today, because mommy is going to need them too. Doesn't sound like she is taking one right now.

Rainy Day

Invasion of Privacy?

Nah......not of a 3 month old. Actually, this picture was taken the last time the monitor was working this weekend. The switch broke, but daddy called GE and was able to buy another monitor w/o the cameras. I really liked having this to be able to watch her and determine if she is really waking up or just struggling through sleep phases.

Check out the way she sleeps with her arms up. It's either one or both arms up when she sleeps unswaddled. Although mommy sleeps with one arm up too, not sure why.

Hi.

She slept so good last night. The first stint was 8.5 hours and then the second stint was 3 hours. Maybe it was all that fresh air from being at the fair all morning. Mommy had to meet the kids she works with at the fair and Isabel came along. She slept a good chunk of it, but we were outside most of the time. It was really nice in the shade there, cool breeze. We watched this lame juggler act on the stage where we were. Most of the audience was 3 years old and I realized that there are going to be some things my kid is going to want to see that I think are lame and I am just going to have to get through it. It won't all be swimming & story time & other things mom thinks are fun.

Happy to Have Mom Home

Today's outfit is a new RL lavendar shirt that mom bought and are paired with some vintage Baby Grand overalls. It's rainy out today and not supposed to hit 80, so I thought this might be a good outfit to wear.

Because I had to work the last 3 days, we got out of our routine of playtimes and she didn't get all the tummy time she needed. So, today we can get back to it. But since mom is back at work in just over 2 weeks we are going to have to figure out some other routine. Since she will be at daycare she won't get all the individual attention and someone won't be working with her on the different types of motor skills. Although, she will get to learn some good social skills. She does like watching little kids who are just older than her.

To View Photos on Winkflash That I Posted

They don't make it easy to figure out how you can view the folders of pictures I have given you access to. It's easy once you know what to do. So, this is what you need to do:
* Log-in (you must have an account to view the pictures)
* Click on Friends (has a picture of 2 people next to it)
* Click on my user ID
* Select a foder to view

All Pictures on Winkflash

Well, at least all that I want to put on there. There are 3 folders: one of Isabel, one of grandma & grandpa M., and one of grandpa & grams S.

I only put the pictures of Isabel that I think are the cutest and will be ordering from. We may add more to that folder if daddy thinks there are others that are cute that should be there as well.

I put ALL the pictures of the grandparents on their, so that they can choose between all pictures & versions.

Enjoy!

Life w/o Mom

Both Monday & Tuesday, Isabel had to be taken care of by someone other than mom and she did great. On Monday, daddy stayed home with her in the morning. He got her to go for a nap and she took a nice one and didn't get cranky until just before mom came home for lunch to feed her. Daddy was great and sent me pictures message with texts letting me know things were going well a couple of times in the morning. That helped. Then in the afternoon she went to daycare. This was really hard on mommy, but when she picked her up there was a calm, but hungry baby to greet her. That was a relief! It would have been so hard to leave her again if she was crying when I came to get her.

When I brought her home Monday night she was so chatty. It was like she had to tell me all about the other kids. All the other kids were excited to have a baby coming there. It's funny to see kids who are 1 1/2 and 2 years old calling other kids babies, but it makes them feel bigger then.

No nap for mom this day and daddy stayed home the entire day and did stuff around the house that needed to be done, like removing the ramp from the deck and painting the deck. Thanks! So, we went out for dinner at the drive-in A&W. It was nice. I nursed her in the car and she fell asleep and we ate. What I like about A&W drive-in as opposed to other fastfood is that you are under a covered parking area the entire time.

Tuesday, she went to day care all day. Her daycare lady called on Monday night asking that I bring some milk & a bottle so that she could try feeding her. So, I did. At around 10am I get a call on my cell from the daycare lady and I'm scared that Isabel is crying her eyes out and I have to come get her. But no, she was calling because she was excited that she got Isabel to eat the bottle she gave her. She used this Platex Ventaire bottle. She though she got her to drink more than she did because it uses bags and you can't really tell how much was in the bag, but she just used the 1.5 ounce I left. The 2.5 ounce bottle was still there. But hey - 1.5 ounces was more than she has drank out of the bottle before. I am sure she could have gotten her to drink more, but she thought it was "more" already and knew I was coming back at lunch time to feed her.

So, I came back at lunchtime and tried to feed her, but she didn't eat hardly anything and I ended up rocking her to sleep. I guess she only took a 1/2 hour nap that morning there. She's so into the other kids and what they are doing that she just wants to watch them. But after I rocked her to sleep she slept 3 hours (she needed that since she missed much of her AM nap.)

Today I only have to work witht he kids from 10-2 and we are going to the fair, so Isabel will come with me for that. I am glad to have all day with her. I missed her when I had to work, but being that she wasn't crying when I picked her up or came back for lunch makes it easier. The hardest part was when I left her on Tuesday morning and another kid was crying, which Isabel could hear. And it's like crying is contagious among babies, so she started crying and I had to leave her there when she was crying.

Family Photos

Here is the whole family. Daddy's parents (grandma & grandpa M.) are on the left. Daddy, Isabel & I are in the middle. Mommy's parents (grandpa & grams S.) are on the right. This was one of the pictures I really wanted to look nice.

Mommy & Isabel

Daddy & Isabel

These pictrues were all taken on Saturday. She is wearing a cute new dress that came from one of daddy's co-workers.

I am uploading the pictures I like to Winkflash. I have sent out invitations to join winkflash to some of you so that you can view them. If you didn't get one and want to see the pictures, let me know. I have found that winkflash has the best pricing for photos and I think their service is relatively fast. I've ordered lots of pictures from them before. Plus, they were the only site I could find that had a 10x13 size.

Black & White Favorites

Daddy likes them in black & white because they look like old fashioned baby pictures. I think they look nice. I think we are deciding between one of these three to hang as the 10x13 on the living room wall. I think I like this one best.

Of course, I will be getting plenty of copies of all the pictures, but only one can make the big living room wall picture. All three of these pictures were taken on Sunday when she was in better spirits.
Her outfit is this yellow vintage Carter's dress. It has duckies on it. This is what she wore Sunday.

No Pictures Yet

I didn't take any pictures of Isabel this weekend because Skye came over on both Saturday & Sunday to take pictures of her. I'll post some of those pictures after I get copies. Saturday's pictures were taken in the evening, and she was kinda crabby like she is in the evenings. Those pictures we had grandparents in them. This morning she took some pictures of a happier, yet tired baby. Skye wants to try and get some sleeping baby pictures and re-do the pictures of the 3 of us, as one of us was either looking away, making a funny face, or had hair in our face.

I am hoping there will be a nice one to put up on the wall of Isabel from today's pictures. She was too sleepy to be smiling. Maybe next time I need to have Skye come and take pictures while she is sleeping first and then after she wakes up. She is the happiest after she just wakes up.

So, there will be pictures on here soon. I'm just building some anticipation. I have to work the next few days, so I am not sure if I'll have time to take pictures then. Guess we'll see.

Once Upon A Time

There once was an average size baby born, well, her weight was average but she was long. She was too skinny for 0-3 month clothes and too long for preemie clothes. This baby liked to nurse a lot, which too some getting used to by her mommy. But soon she began to grow and grow and grow. And before you knew it she was wearing her 0-3mo. clothes. And they fit nice for several weeks. Then she began to grow again, really fast and the 0-3mo. stuff didn't fit. She had to start wearing 3-6mo. clothes, but again she was too skinny for the waists but the length fit. Even a guy who saw here when she was shopping with her mommy asked if she was around 6 months old.

Well, that baby is now growing & growing again, really fast. And just as the waist of the 3-6mo. started to fit, the length just doesn't. So, her mommy had to get out 6-9mo. clothes. There is many 3-6mo. clothes she'll never be able to wear because they are too hot, but she did get to wear most of them that were just right. And I am sure that she will soon again be growing and growing very fast.

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There once was a little girl who everyone thought was refusing to take a bottle. As soon as you put it in her mouth she would spit it out. And after a while she would get upset and cry. And sometimes she would just sit there with the nipple in her mouth, but not sucking.

Now this caused her mommy some distress because mommy needed to go back to work. They tried everything, different people, different bottles, different times, different surroundings, different nipples. But nothing seemed to work.

Her mommy continued to remain hopeful because she would take a little bit, but not quite enough. It made her mommy very sad to think that her baby girl might be hungry if she didn't eat enough and she began to make plans to make sure that her baby girl would not cry herself hungry (just the thought of it pulls my heart strings.)

But then one day, her mommy was reading about troubles with introducing a bottle or solid foods to a baby and found out that babies have a tongue-push reflex that usually goes away (just like those other inborn relfexes) around 4 months in breastfed babies. Bottle fed babies lose that much quicker and some babies just take longer to lose their infant relexes.

So, her mommy is a little more hopeful again, but still making plans, hoping one day her baby girl will eat enough from the bottle or of solid food so that no more plans have to be made.

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Today's outfit is a vintage First Imperssions one piece (6-9mo.) that says "Daddy's Little Sweetheart". Of course daddy's heart melted when he saw that this morning. You can still see the wild curls today.

Curly Hair

So, last night after her bath I let her hair dry naturally and she has plenty of natural curl in her hair. Because her hair is so fine, when I comb it it just lays flat, but if I let it air dry before combing, it's a crazy curly mess.

She slept 8 hours in a row again last night, then followed it up with 2.5 hours. But I think it's because she's so tired. She has been taking crappy naps this week.

Today we went over to the mall. I picked a couple of thinsg for her @ Oshkosh B'Gosh (usually they are pretty expensive, but they had some decent deals and they make nice quality stuff.) I also bought some new stuff for me, of course I had her in the Snugli so I couldn't try on anything, but I did try them on at home and they all fit. Woohoo!

I needed some new bottoms for work, as I don't quite fit into my old clothes yet. I never thought I had a flat tummy before, but now it is definitly not flat and the waist of my pants pull, as well that pulling look on my rear. I can button & zipper them, but they look too tight. So, I have to get my butt in gear and do some exercising again (I got in phases -- either I am gungho doing it or I am not.)

I watch too much of What Not To Wear to actually go back to work wearing they clothes that are too tight, plus I have some kids that need to work on being tactful and would tell me that I look like crap - guess sometimes you have to appreciate their honesty. So, I got 3 new pairs of dress pants and 1 new long skirt. It should look good with my recent top style, which consists of wearing a nursing tank bra with sometype of button down shirt layered over it.

I still have to figure out what I want to wear for pictures on Saturday. I am thinking the new long black skirt and probably a white top. We are all wearing black & white, with the exception of Isabel who will be wearing this bright pink dress that she got from one of daddy's co-workers. Actually, the pictures is why I ran over to Oshkosh B'Gosh, because I wanted to get some cute little frilly socks to go with the dress; I did. I think daddy is wearing a white linen shirt (which he wore for the maternity photos) and some black dress pants. And as long as the weather is cooperating, we're going to try to do most (or all) of the pictures outside. We're having both sets of grandparents there too so that we can do generational pictures as well.

I had 4 people ask me while we were out shopping how old she was and when I told them she was 12 weeks (she will be in 2 days), 3 of them said, "Wow, she's big of 12 weeks." Ok - I get it, my baby is big for her age. Daddy thinks it's funny and when he sees people at work who have babies that are the same age or a little old and they have pictures of their babbies up, he tells them that our baby could eat their baby. The 4th person said she looked little, I told them that was the first time I heard that today and she said compared to her grandchildren she was little.

The thing of it is is that someone has to be in the upper percentiles. And the good thing is that she gains weight as the same rate as she gains length. She may look pudgy, but she's still in a length percentile that is higher than the weight percentile. This weekend we were joking that Noah & Isabel will be beating up on Kallen (who is 3 years older than them) as soon as they can walk/crawl and get to him, both those babies are little weeds.

Hey - is it just me or do all sorts of strangers come up to people with babies. It kinda drives me nuts. I can't do anything in peace anymore. Not only am I slowed down because I need to pay attention & comfort the baby while we are out, but I have people stopping me asking me to look at the baby. Usually it is old ladies.........sometimes I don't mind and they are considerate of my time.....but when they start kissing my baby on the head while I am hodling her or have creepy Skeletor hands (kinda like Mr. Burns' hands) and seem like they want to suck the life sourceout of my child....well. then my comfort level is pushed. And sometimes I feel bad for the old ladies because their own grandchildren are old enough to have children and probably don't go to visit them anymore. Although, we rarely see Isabel's great grandparents, as we live a distance from them. But I suppose that is the consequence of our mobile society.

Another Outfit

I don't change her just so she has a chance to wear everything; I only change for diaper leaks, if she threw up, or if mom spilled something on her (hey, it happens.) This time it was throw up, not spit up - that I just wipe away, but enough on both Isabel & mommy that we both needed to change. Yeah, I know, gross - huh.

So today I was going through the 6-9 mo. stuff I got from Karen & stuff I bought (I bought so much clothes for her first year brfore she was even born - I was glad she really did turn out to be a girl!). But unless she slows down in her growth she may never get a chancer to wearall the 6-9 cold weather clothes I have & got.

Well, we are off to the grocery store now.

Oh wait - her outfit details. Ummmm...an Old Navy t-shirt mom bought (duh! like you can't read) and a Target brand diaper cover courtesy of Karen. Both these items came out of the 6-9 bag.

Video of Isabel Rolling Over

In the beginning you can see how well she is holding her head up. She rolls over towards the very end. The video is about two and half minutes long.

Just Another Day

Today's Outfit

Last night I ran to Target after she finished nursing and bought this top for her. It's a 9-month top for babies 26-29" long (or something around that). So, she's just about to 26" and other tops look like belly shirts on her. It was only $3.99. The bottoms are from mommy's co-worker Misun. It same from The Children's Place and came with a cute little sweater (which will never bework because it is now too short.) I guess I didn't get the bottoms of these pants in the picture. They have cute pink lace on the bottoms of the legs. It's a very soft outfit. I think she will like wearing this one today.

When we were at the newborn clinic yesterday there were 2 babies there that were 3 months old. One was this little boy and his little check-in tag for his babybook said he was 23.75" long and 14lb.9oz. Isabel will be 3 months in just under 2 weeks and she's almost 2" longer than this kid and only 1 oz. bigger. The mom of this boy knew the mom of the other 3 month old girl and went over to talk to her. I didn't see the baby or here the other mom but boy's mom was loud and she was saying that her little girl is tiny compared to her little porker & they are both the same age. Hmmmm.....I'm thinking Isabel is going to be a pretty tall girl.

One of the people who work the newborn clinic (& she also instructs the ECFE baby & me class) asked how old she was and I told her 11 weeks and she said she is really long for her age. Well, guess you should see her father then.

Yesterday's Swimsuit

Since she didn't really want to nap much yesterday I decided she should go swimming in that little pool we picked up for her this weekend. The water was nice & warm, bathtub warm. So, here she is in another swimsuit, but this is supposed to be a 12 month swimsuit. If she grows any longer she will not be able to get the straps up on this without it cutting into her shoulders. You can get a good look at her chubby arms & legs here.

It was amazing last night -- she slept for 8 hours straight (8:30-4:30). Of course, mom didn't come to bed until she had already been sleeping for 2 hours. Then she got up and needed nursing and nursed very quickly (although I am sure she got plenty to eat, I tend to let down very fast and milk {is that what I call it?} very fast - sometimes too fast for her, but I can't control it.) So, she went back to sleep again for 2 hours - woohoo! mom got 8 hours of sleep! - then I woke up and thought maybe she was ready to get up as I heard her stirring. She intereacted with me a bit and then fell back asleep for another hour. Tired baby. I gues she's making up for the lousy naps she took yesterday.

Second Outfit

Happy Baby

She pooped so much that it leaked through and she needed an outfit change. This is a little Carter's outfit that came from her great aunt Barb, mommy's godmother. This little weed is growing so fast that she alsmost missed these couple outfits from her.

I think blue is a good color on Isabel, well pink is too. Not sure I like yellow on her. I thought some of the yellow outfits did not go well with her skin tone. Mommy & daddy don't really look good in yellow either we look sick when we wear it, unless it is a really light pastel yellow.

This outfit almost looks like a thworback from the 80's, as if it had shoulder pads in (it doesn't.)

Sad Baby

She does NOT like the hat! I guess she is not a fan of hats that are fitted to her head. It's a cute crying picture though.

Her weight today was 14lb. 10oz.

Let's Make Plans

Today she is seen in a vintage Simply Basic outfit that came from Karen's little girl. The pants are actually on the long side and a litle big around the waist, but the top will be too short very soon. This little girl has a long torso.

Today we are going to go to the Newborn Clinic and get her current weight. I measured her her and length this morning. Her head circumference is 16.25" (just 1/2" bigger than 2.5 weeks ago) and her length is 25.5", which is 1.25" longer than 2.5 weeks ago. That's why she is outgrowing all her 3-6 months stuff. The labels on the 3-6 month stuff say 22.5-26.5", well after you wash it and it shrinks a little -- well, let's just say I'll be breaking out the 6-9mo. stuff very soon (already got out those onesies.) So, now we just need to see how much weight she has gained.

As for making plans, well, I have some work days coming up to finish up my summer program with my kids there. So, Isabel is going to go to daycare for part of that time next week and then I have days the next couple of weeks until school is back in session and I am back at work for her to go to daycare. We'll try out our morning routine a few times to make sure we are getting stuff done & out of the house on time. She'll only be watching her half days and will try to feed her, but if she doesnt eat she won't have to wait too long for me. She'll start daycare full-time on September 5th.

This Saturday, we are having Skye, the photographer come to the house and take some 3 month old pictures. I am hoping this will be a much better experience since she will be in the comfort of her own home and is much more easily entertained and we don't have to drive anywhere. This weekend her grandma & grandpa S. are also coming to visit.

We've planned a trip to WI to see family in mid-October. So, that should be nice.

In January, we plan to start Isabel with swim lessons. I am sure some people think it's a great idea and others probably think we are wasting our money. Well, we think it is a great idea. Daddy didn't much like water when he was growing up (mommy loved it!) and he wants her to like water from an early age. They offer swim classes at the waterpark at the Holiday Inn, which is nice because it's close and the water will be nice & warm. It's a Parent-tot thing, so mom or dad will be in the water with her. They can start the classes when they are 6 months old. We are going to sign her up for the Tuesday evening classes starting in January and last 2 months (they also had M&W classes for one month both Jan. & Feb., but we though twice a week was too much.) The other cool thing about it is that you can use the water park for an hour before or after the lessons for free, not that we'll use it for an hour and do the 1/2 hour classes, that is too much for a little girl of 8 months, but it will be fun to play in it for a little while each time. In the summer we will probably do the lessons at the local pool. There we will have 50% more classes at 33% less price.

The swim classes are just as much for mommy & daddy as they are for Isabel. How nice will it be to swim around in nice warm water in the winter? Very nice, I think. It's actually much cheaper to do the 1/2 hour lessons & free hour of waterpark time (what little kid doesn't get just exhausted after that much exercise?) than to actually pay to use the waterpark. The cheapest day is Thursday & costs $6 a person, but can cost as much as $15 a person. Where the lessons & free time @ the waterpark cost about $4 a time.

The library is also starting a new storytime in September (currently is it Wednesdays @ 9:30am & 10:30am) and will be adding a time at 6:30pm on Thursdays. That later time seems to be aimed at much younger kids, where the early time is aimed at toddlers & pre-schoolers. So, we might have to check that out and see if she likes it. She might be too fussy to do any of that for a while. Right now she really only likes it when I read to her while she nurses and occasionally will let me read to her other times.

And we might do an ECFE class with her this fall. The ECFE we took our baby classes through allows us to take our first session for free, so we might as well. I think a session is around 12 weeks. It's as much a support group for parents as it is playtmie for babies. The class teaches you about the different types of sensory experiences they are ready for and types of movement activities to do with them and then parents also learn about their baby's growth & development, parenting tips & challenges, and how to better take care of yourself as the parent. It's only for parents and their babies newborn to 10 month. So, I think that could be a very good experience for both Isabel & her parents. I just have to wait for the fall brochure to get out so that we can register for it, as they offer only 1 evening class and the rest are day classes.

Time with Dad

Tickle. Tickle.

" Comments to be added. " If you have ever checked out the blog ans seen this, well, it means baby Isabel gave me enough time to upload the pictures but no time to write anything. But I promise there will be comments later if you ever see it. So, check back.

She was up when dad was getting ready, so she got to spend a little time with him in the morning. Since the vacation is over & dad hasto go back to work, it's just mom & Isabel again.

Her outfit today is a vintage LeTop dress that is paired with some socks & a diaper cover we've seen before. The dress has these cute little ladybugs on each side that are pockets. I still wonder why a baby needs pockets, especailly when they are on the back of pants. They spend most of their time on their backs.

How you doing kiddo? Tomorrow I am taking her to the Newborn Clinic to get a weight. It has been 2 1/2 weeks since we've gotten a weight on her. After I go back to work, we'll be getting weights only once a month, at the doctor's office when she has an appointment or at the clinic if we can arrange it.

She'll be 3 months in less than 2 weeks. Her weight 2.5 weeks about was 13lb.6oz. Her birth weight was 7lb.2oz. and they are supposed to double their birthweight by 6 months. I think we'll see 14lb.4oz. tomorrow. Any guess from anyone else?

Like Father, Like Daughter

This picture was taken at the cabin. There is no way he can ever deny this is his child. She looks so much like him, but mommy really wanted her to look like her. Maybe she'll grow up to look more like mom later.

Our Families' Dinner

Mommies & Babies

Here is a picture of April & Noah and Isabel & mommy. Noah is 5 weeks older than Isabel. Mommy is looking a little tired here & probably needs some makeup; Isabel is quite tired herself. We had dinner @ April & Jason's house. They made the fabulous grilled porkchops in a blackberry sauce and some broccoli & garlic toast. It was very good. We were in charge of beverages (brought some Henry Weinhard's beer and these mango margarita cocktails - can't remember what they were called) and dessert (brought a chocolate mousse cheesecake from Harry & David, then topped with fresh mashed strawberriesd and finally topped with chocolate Cool Whip. Get that chocolate cool whip - it is awesome on it's own. It's like a light chocolate mousse.)

Kallen Poses

Kallen (their oldest, obviously) was patiently waiting for someone to take his picture, so Isabel's daddy took one of him. He is almost 3 1/2 years old.

Tired Baby.

She would just not fall asleep & stay asleep while we were there, although she slept most of the way home (they live about an hour away from us.) And then after we got home she cluster-fed for 2 hours and completly wiped mom out. When it's an hour and a half I can handle it and do some things after I out her to bed, but when she gets over 1.5 hours and heads towards 2 hours she just completly drains me. I went to bed right when she did.

Speaking of bedtime.....she has been sleeping through the night (they say that is 5 hours or more in a row) for about 2 weeks now. Usually it's about 6 hours for her long stretch. It'll take it. I'm a little jealous that Noah sleeps the entire night and April gets that uninterrupted sleep. But I am just happy she is sleeping 5+ hours. Sometime she throws in a 7+ hour night there.

Visiting Friends

Picture 1

Today we are going to go have dinner with our friends April & Jason and their boys Kallen & Noah.

Actually, today cute little dress is compliments of them . It was a gift to Isabel. It came with a matching sweater, but it's a little warm to wear that, and she doesn't like it to be warm. She prefers to be cool. The shoes are something grandma M. picked up for her. Her feet are smaller than these sz. 1 shoes, but with the socks on they will stay on, but there is still a lot of room at the end. These shoes are probably closest ones she has to fitting. Her other 2 pairs of sz. 1 shoes don't fit anymore, honestly I think they were more of a newborn size. So, these are still a little big, but all the size 2 shoes are WAY too big. But she doesn't wear shoes often anyways. When she does she works pretty hard to kick them off.

Picture 2

Yesterday, we picked up one of those blue plastic kiddie pools for her. I filled it with water yesterday afternoon, so hopefully it can warm up today and then she can do a little wading in their tomorrow.

She didn't like her daddy much yesterday. He pinched her finger in the clippers (don't worry, no blood was drawn), but she was sleeping when it happened and I am sure it scared her and it probably stung too. But that kind of thing is bound to happen now & again. So, later on he tried to go by her while our neighbor Cindy was holding her and she started screaming. Then that night while she was cluster feeding & falling asleep he belched REALLY loud (I was kinda scared too!) and she opened her eyes really big & started shaking while it was happening and then as soon as it was overshe started balling. He was hoping she would forget about it while she sleeped and she seems to have. She is resting on his chest right now while daddy watches a show I Tivo'ed for him, Ultimate Cars.

Signing for Babies

I picked up a book from the library on Baby Signs. I had read a lot of magazine articles and saw a show about teaching them sign language before they can speak so that they can communicate with you, but nothing ever said how old to start doing this. You don't want to start too early and get frustrated because they aren't ready to do it. They I got that book from the library and it says to do this when you baby waves good bye, because they have started to learn hand signals to communicate by waving. So, when is that? At 7 months. So, I have some time yet.

11 Weeks Old Today!

Read My Shirt!

11 weeks old already. Wow! Time is sure flying by fast. Today's outfit is one that daddy just loves. Mommy picked it up at the Oshkosh B'Gosh Store. She's got that skater look cooking today. It's interesting - both these pieces are sized 0-3 months. I guess Oshkosh sizes things big. I've had this outfit for a while, but she would have never fit into it much earlier than this, but now I almost missed it.

Opposite Time.

"I can't smile all the time." Her hair definitly has curl to it, but since it is so fine and we need to comb it to make sure her scalp stays healthy, it always lays & dries flat. But if we let it dry on it's own it curls all up - very cute. So, maybe she got something else from mom besides her lips.

Thursday, August 3rd

She is in the carseat and we are heading home. She doesn't sit upright like that, but I took the picture at an angle and blogger only allows you to post the picture as a rectangle....so she looks like she is upright. She has a convertible carseat in daddy's car. So, this carseat will go with her from infancy to 3-4 years old (whenever she outgrows it and needs a booster seat.) We have infant carseats in mommy's car and the Tahoe.

Andother gender neutral outfit. A Carter's duckie onesie she has work before and some new Gymborre pants that are green with a giraffe on them. Very cute.