11 Weeks Old

Silly girl, pull down your shirt.

I like to dance!

Just relaxing in my crib

Hi Daddy!

-D

10 Weeks Old and Discovering... Feet!

As you will soon see in the pictures, our sweet little girl has noticed that she has feet.

She loves to get that left hand up by her ear

Trying to cross her legs

But now we get to what might be my favorite picture to date....

-D

Updates and Behind On Pictures

Yikes! It's been a while since an update over here. Last week, Baby Girl passed 10 weeks and today is 11 weeks. I promise to get the 10-week pictures up here (which are just as good as the 8-week pictures) as well as today's 11-week pictures.

Ny is growing right along, sleeping through the night still and getting some good naps in as well. It's nice to be able to get home from work at 4 and be able to spend a couple hours with G before Ny demands our attention.

Sunday was a big day for our little family, as we had Ny's baby dedication. G picked out a dress both her and her sister wore when they were little, only for Ny to spit up throw up on it just as we pulled into the church parking lot. Either G's driving was too crazy (unlikely) or poor baby's tummy was not quite right. Luckily, G brought a back-up wardrobe, and Little Girl was able to get a new dress, some more milk, and a little nap, too. She did great when it came time for the dedication, being quiet and not screaming when our pastor held her. All in all, a great day and a blessing to celebrate our little blessing.

Before I leave you, let me at least post this picture from this weekend. G and her sister were out car shopping, leaving Daddy in charge. I don't think there were any complaints!

We were rooting for UAB to beat UT!

Have a great day!

-D

2-Month Checkup

Ah, doctor's visits. Co-pays. Well-child. Sick-child. Charts. All terms I am becoming more familiar with. As I mentioned earlier in the last update, Ny had her big 2-month checkup this past Tuesday. A little parenting confession here: we never really picked out a pediatrics group until she was born. It was one of those things that got lost in moving to our house, UTI's and global warming. Fortunately, I was able to do some checking while in the hospital thanks to some free wi-fi, not stolen wifi, and we settled on a practice with about 7 doctors, open on Sundays, and only 5 minutes from our house. Something that I hadn't thought about until one of G's friends - who has a baby girl - brought it up is that with Ny, it might be easier to see a woman doctor, especially as Ny grows up. This place also has several females doctors. We've seen two doctors and really like both of them. Anyway, enough rambling about that, other than to say to expecting parents - don't sweat the search, because if you find a place and don't like it, there's no trouble finding another.

The purpose of the 2-month checkup is to torture the baby with shots check weight, development, and then torture the baby with shots immunize the baby. Ny has continued to grow, now weighing in at 12 lbs, 8 oz (90th percentile) and checking in at 24 1/4 inches long (95th percentile). In other words, she's as long as the typical 4-month old. If she continues growing at a rate of 1.625 in/month, by the time she's 26 months, she will be 5' 3". Fortunately, she won't grow that fast, otherwise I'm going to be staring up at my daughter to punish her when she's 4. Her head is starting to catch up to her body, with it now 40 cm and in the 70th percentile. As her doctor said, she's a rock star; everything looks great with her.

Then came shots. Ny needed 4 total immunizations this time - one by mouth and three by shot. She did great with the oral vaccination, probably because she was hungry and the stuff tasted sweet (or so I'm told). Then came time for the needles. Now, this Dad doesn't like needles. I'm not afraid of them. I don't try to run away from them. I just don't like seeing them. So I stood off to the side and looked into Ny's eyes so she would see me. Mom held her hand. The first shot goes in... no trouble... for a split second.  Then she starts to inject the vaccine. Tears, red face, loud crying, Mom crying, Dad trying to comfort Baby. Rinse and repeat for the next two. I can see why parents feel like it's harder on them, but I'm pretty sure if Nyla could have talked, she might have said something I can't print here. Fortunately, Mom picked her up afterward, and she calmed down quickly. Not a terribly traumatic experience, but one that I'm glad does not happen that often.

Ny has not had any reactions to the shots, other than being really grumpy and fussy Tuesday night. The last two days have been great. G is keeping her up for longer periods during the day and spacing out her naps a little better, meaning that when I get home, she typically takes a two-hour nap and is much happier in the evening. That, in turn, makes Mom and Dad much happier in the evening. Oh, and she's been sleeping through the night since last week. No doubt she loves her night-night time as much as her parents love theirs.

Have a great weekend!

-D

P.S. I know you're wondering why G doesn't update this much. Well, try having a 2-month old at home, and it becomes clear. She'll be posting more I'm sure. Until then, you're stuck with blessed with my writing.

2 Months Old & 9 Weeks

A big 2-month old

A happy 2-month old!

An adorable 2-month old

A chillin' 9-week old

How old am I again?

Doctor visit today, which means shots. Daddy's tagging along for this one. Will he be the only one not crying?

-D

8 Weeks Old, One Week Late

As you can see, our little Giant Baby is really starting to get the hang of this smiling thing, when she wants to anyway.

And it also appears she is starting to notice when the camera is focused on her, as evidence by her hamming it up (which she gets from her Daddy).

Yep, we have the cutest baby on the planet.

-D

Happy 2 Months!

Our darling little girl is 2 months old today! She just gets cuter (and chattier) by the day! G will be along later today with the 8-week and 2-month pictures, I think anyway.

Still, I just wanted to take the time to say that my daughter is the best and most beautiful baby!

-D

On Schedules, Sleep, and Star Wars

Well, hello again, dear readers. I trust that you had a relaxing, enjoyable, cooking-out Labor Day. We did, although our little one was more interested in seeing family than sleeping, which led to a less-than-happy baby at times. Oh well, our little spirited girl just has to know what is going on, and that's ok.

Babies are smarter than anyone gives them credit for - of this I am convinced. Meaning to talk like Yoda, I am not; continue typing I will. Anyways, my little daughter is smart. Three weeks ago we started walking in the evenings, interrupting her normal nap time. Once we decided to change that so Mom could walk in the mornings and I could exercise in the evenings, our little nimbus cloud still wanted to be up rather than go to sleep, which she had done prior to walking. This made for some long afternoons and evenings recently. Monday evening, G and I sat down and ironed out a schedule for all of us - giving plenty of time for Mom and Dad as well as spreading out Ny's naps better. Per the Baby Whisperer, it usually takes at 3-5 days for schedule changes to take effect. Tuesday was definitely a struggle, since Ny was up for a while that afternoon and evening. Yesterday was much better. I even got her down for an almost 2-hour nap in the evening! And they all rejoiced! (yay)

While the adventures of trying to get naps in, especially during the afternoon/evening, can be tiresome, what isn't tiresome is the fact that 4 of the last 5 nights, including the last 3 in a row, Ny has slept all night! By all night, I mean we feed her around 9:30 one last time (to tank her up), put her down before 10, and don't hear from her until after 6. That, my friends, is a blessing!

Have a great Thursday!

-D

Baby Quirks

Each one of us has little quirks, those little mannerisms that we might not even know we do. Babies are no different, and our Little Giant Baby definitely has some. Some quirks actually mean something. Some are just too cute. With that thought in mind, here are a few of our sweet daughter's quirks.

• She is a noisy eater. I'm sure a lot of babies are like this, but whenever we feed her, she makes noises. I don't really know to describe the noise other than "mmmmmmm," which I assume means she absolutely loves what she's eating.
• She gets really still... and then... well, it's time to change her diaper. (Note: Baby Girl, this will embarrass you when we tell this story down the road. Please forgive us. It's just so cute.) We will put her on the changing table after her nap and wait. Experience has taught us that it is best to wait a few minutes before changing her diaper. Wait for her to get still. Then wait a few more minutes after that, too.
• The ear grab. This is one we've just started to notice. As she's feeding, or when she's in our arms or laying on the changing table, she will take her right hand and pull on her right ear. How cute, right? Well, we think that's her saying to us, "You better get me ready for bed soon!" Babies give signs of being ready for bed. Make sure you pick up on these, or else you could have an over-tired baby. And no one likes an over-tired baby.
• 4:00am smiley. If I wake up at 4:00am, I'm not going to be happy. For Giant Baby, she is smiling and even will try to chat it up with you. In order to keep her semi-asleep, we don't talk back to her, but that smile is soooo sweet.
• Constant motion. This little girl always seems to have her arms and legs moving, especially her left leg, which I'm not sure ever stops moving. Of course when she's tired, chances are she will be very still, but even while asleep, she wiggles around in her Miracle Blanket.

I'm sure G could add to this list, but these are the first ones that popped into my head. Our sweet girl is certainly unique, and certainly very, very cute.

-D

7 Weeks and Happy!

Seriously, how cute is she!?

-D