Saturday, June 23, 2012

Our Baby Is 4 Weeks Old

This is bittersweet. I'm excited to see who this little lady becomes ~ of course I'm also eager to just have her sit up by herself, you know, baby steps ~ but I love how little she is, how she needs us, how I get all this time to learn about her & be with her for 24 hours a day.

During this last month, Mia has learned to turn her head a full 90 degrees when laying down. She can roll to her left side and sometimes her right (rarely). She is beginning to smile intentionally ~ she still does it in her sleep and it's still super cute. She is beginning to make noises with her vocal cords rather than just crying sounds or sucking sounds. She lost her umbilical cord. She takes baths without tears now. She has gained over a pound and has gained an inch in length. She took her first bottle on her 4 week birthday. She is holding her head up for longer periods of time. She's getting more consistent at putting her little thumb and fingers in her mouth for sucking. She's sleeping longer periods during the night (I still wake up to see how she's doing but she seems to sleep right through the night even when I'm feeding her) and she's gone on her first walks in a stroller and in the baby carrier. She's also starting to put herself to sleep more often (like 10% of the time, but that's progress!). Developmentally, she's moving right along.

Some random things I live about Mia: She flexes her toes all the time. She surprises herself when she makes sucky sounds on herself or others. She gave herself a tiny hicky on her arm by sucking on her arm. She likes to stare off at the ceiling, skylights and windows when she needs a break from staring at people. She's beautiful and funny. I love it when she falls asleep and is like a limp little doll. I love when she falls asleep all curled up on my chest. She makes a laughing sound in her sleep. She stretches ALL the time. She makes funny faces when she stretches, when she sleeps and when she's awake. I even love the pooping faces and the messes she makes (even if I'm not laughing at the time). I just love everything about her. 

 Roll over baby girl!
 Love the the eye rolls!

Where is baby? She loves this carrier. 

Monday, June 18, 2012

bed hog






So, I do the whole bedsharing thing. I know that every hospital worker, doctor and lots of moms would say "Don't do it!!" but I have to. We both sleep better, feeding her is easier, I feel like we bond more and what better way to wake up in the morning than staring at this sweet little face.  We're safe about it so don't worry.

That being said, I have been putting her away from my body lately because eventually she will have to sleep on her on and if she doesn't need to be on me or in my arms then I should take advantage of that. (Yes, I could put her in her rocker but she wakes up a lot more when she's away from me and when I have to lift her out to eat and I don't recognize she needs to eat as quickly as if she's next to me) So last night I put down a waterproof pad, since she's been leaking out of diapers here and there, and put her in the middle of it. I woke up and here she is, right smack next to me! She wiggled her way to me during the hour that we were sleeping. She is amazing and scooting herself around in her sleep. I love her.

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Look ma!

Mia is 18 days old today and her umbilical stump finally fell off! It's nasty looking, like a large raisin on one side and a cream colored scab on the other. I was undressing her for her bath and I saw a belly button and had to search for the stump. Ick. It was stuck to the inside of her sleep shirt.




We had her 2 week check up on Monday and the doctor is so happy with her progress she doesn't have to come for a 1 month check up ~ she can wait until her 2 month! Yay! She was 8 lbs 15 oz, 22 inches. She's in the 90th percentile for height and 50th for head size and weight. Will she be a tall one? So far she's not so chunky - she gets that from Bruce's side of the family, certainly not mine! We will have to wait and see.

Just some more photos because who can get tired of looking at this cutie pie?

 After bath! All clean!
 Trying to smile

Are you sassin' me?

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

More photos

 Trying to get on daddy's good side after a LONG night. I think it worked ;)
 Big yawn.
 Love the milk face! What a messy eater!
 Daddy/Daughter cuddle time.
One of the few photos I have of her first day on the outside!

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Our Baby Girl is One Week Old!


Our little girl turned one week old - she's getting so big. Where did the days go? So, I've enjoyed every moment, just like I should, and I've reveled in having Bruce's help. Here are just a few of the things I've learned this week: 
1. I cannot get tired of looking at Mia's face. 
2. It's weird calling her Mia. I'm hoping that goes away.
3. You can waste a lot of time in a day just looking at a baby. Before you know it, it's dark and time for sleep again. 
4. Everyone wants to see the baby and I'm happy to oblige but.....I'm not in the best mood the more the day goes on. I'm tired, even if I'm napping. It's too hard to say "no" to visitors.
5. Babies appear to sleep while eating. Lucky her. 
6. Sometimes babies just cry and I have to learn to accept that. 
7. We have a baby that absolutely loves being all snuggled up against you - she doesn't care if you want to get things done or if you are losing sleep so that she can safely sleep on your chest. She just wants to snuggle and it has to be done right and you may not know what "right" is for awhile.
8. You will do anything to get a couple hours of sleep. 
9. Baby poo is amazing for so many reasons. 
10 . Babies like to make an impression on others ~ either being spectacularly good for strangers or making the biggest blow out ever during her first outing, she likes to make a name for herself. 
11. Our baby is perfect.
12. You don't automatically know what cry means what or why your baby cries. 
13. Funny faces, even if they're reflexive, make it all worth it.

Just a few pictures I had on my camera: 

Waiting to get checked out of the hospital - Mia got the "go ahead" before I did!
Sleepy little bug ~ she had a big day!
New mommy and daddy bonding time.
Birth certificate with her little feetsies!
First bath with daddy and the only nurse we didn't like in the hospital.
Big brother Ryan meets new baby sister Mia!
Grandma Georgia with her 2 grandkids!
Grandpa Jerry and Grandma Georgia visit Baby Mia in the hospital.
Daddy and Erin visit Baby Mia....it'll be weird trying to call daddy "Grampy"
More sibling bonding time.
First car ride to go home. I was so nervous!
Daddy grabs the goods while mommy takes her time getting the baby.
We're home!
Ryan had to get in on this too, of course!
Nana and Baby ~ pumpkin wants to know what that little thing is.
Grampy with Baby Mia.
Bruce teaching Ryan his burping technique :)
This is what we do now.
Isn't she precious!
Tummy time.
Yep, we do a lot of this.
Funny faces during morning cuddles with daddy.



So sleepy!
First doctor's visit where it is confirmed - she's perfect!
First visit to Nana's
3 Generations of ladies
Look what daddy caught! She's a keeper!
More tummy time. You can do it!
Yep, sleeping again.
How can you not love this face?