Here is what we have been up to the last week! :-)
Slept in the bouncy seat (little Taylor has a cold and can breathe better when she is more upright...)
Made funny faces at mom
Read stories with grandma mem while mom and dad went out on a date!
Had a three-generation girls day out in downtown Holland
Wore our first pair of jeans - new little overalls :-)
Lots of tummy time
Played with Brady
Slept while mom and dad watched Avatar (first movie we have watched the whole way through since Taylor was born!) Hung out on the couch Cuddled with her new taggie blanket - love it!!! Celebrated Earth Day (see her shirt - "Handle with Care")
Race to the Top Program: Guidance and Frequently Asked Questions, January 13, 2010 (PDF)
A mere three months ago I was waking up at 5:00am, working out, going to work, teaching about letters and numbers, coming home, and putting up my tired, pregnant feet while eating dinner and watching reruns of the Office.
Two months ago we were welcoming a new life into this world, a life that we had known about for 9 months, but we were becoming acquainted face to face for the first time. We were learning how to feed, bathe, diaper, swaddle, and generally care for this little person. Everything was new, and the learning curve was slow at first.
Now, with Taylor two months old, it feels like she has been a part of our lives for a long, long time. I can tell the difference between cries (tired, hungry, over-stimulated, wanting to be held, wanting a pacifier, etc.). It takes hardly any time to change a diaper, and we can tell when she is thinking about soaking us in the middle of changing her because she becomes really still and quiet. We have a little bit of a bedtime routine now, and are getting to sleep at a more normal time. We know that we have to be patient and slow with the bottle for her to take it. We have to hold her a certain way, and that it has to be just the right temperature. And she is like her mom – she needs her sleep, and gets out of sorts when she is over tired.
Taylor has the best expressions and smiles, and can make me laugh out loud as we just sit and make faces at each other. She focuses so intently when we look at each other, and then will just break out into the biggest, gummy, smile. We call her the little boxer sometimes because she holds her little fists so tight that her knuckles go white. She likes to snuggle when she is tired, and generally wakes up happy in the morning and after her naps. She loves the sound of water (can’t wait to take her to Lake Charlevoix!). During tummy time, Taylor refuses to just lay and look at things, she wants to MOVE and kicks her little legs back and forth, looking like she wants to get moving and crawl if she could.
It is such a joy to be parents and to have a little person look to you and recognize you as their comforter and care taker. What an awesome job and responsibility.
At two months Taylor is 12 pounds 13.5 ounces (80th percentile), and 23 inches long (75th percentile). Big girl!! She’s growing so well, and the doctor’s say she is doing just perfectly. Music to our ears…
Brave girl after her shots (poor little thing - I think it was as hard on me as it was on her...)
I like her pink camouflage and sparkly band-aids. Looking pretty with her daddy
Little smile
Boxing girl with tight little fists Sleeping with her feet out, just like mom
Taylor hit the seven week mark on Wednesday, and we feel like we can see changes almost daily!! She is getting so much stronger with her neck and legs, and can hold her head up for longer periods of time. The hair that she was born with fell out a bit, but it is now starting to grow back in the front, and it is so cute! Her head reminds me of a little fuzzy peach - the little hairs are so short and soft. The bottle feeding seems to have taken a step back. She is refusing it more often than she is taking it, but we will continue to work on it. For the past 6 straight nights, Taylor has only gotten me up once during the night! She isn't going down until almost 11, but then will sleep until almost 4, and then not get up until almost 8. I hope this will start to shift earlier when I have to go back to work, but for now it is great!
Ryan and I are still trucking along. Ryan is busy almost every night working on things for his two masters classes this semester. I have started my final master's project, utilizing some of Taylor's naps while I am on maternity leave. We both cannot wait to be done with our master's degrees!!
This past week the weather has not been that great, and we are ready for the warmth and sunshine to return!! We're hoping for better weather next week for more walks, runs, and, yes, it's that time of year again, softball practices for Ryan. :-)
Pics
All clean Trying to sit in the bumbo seat for the first time Looking at her own reflection Go team!
Heading out for a walk, it feels like winter again!! Taylor after the walk, all snuggled in and sleeping Taylor - our little rocket Chubby cheeks :-) Playing in her bouncy chair
It started with Ryan taking a half day on Friday, and the three of us headed to 8th street for the afternoon. Afterwards, Ryan and Taylor took a good long nap before dinner. :-)
Grandma mem and Grandpa Randy came up from Battle Creek on Saturday to visit and brought Taylor some Easter goodies - a few cute outfits and a fun counting book. It will be so much fun when she starts interacting with books more!
Then today, Easter Sunday, Taylor went to church for the first time!! She did so well! She slept through most of the service and didn't make a peep. It was fun to dress her up in a cute little dress, and have our church friends finally meet her! Afterward, we headed to grandma and grandpa Slagh's for Easter dinner. Unfortunately we had a little messy diaper incident, and we had to change her clothes before heading over, but she still looked awfully sweet! Taylor got a cute little Easter bunny - a little beanie baby named Hippity - lucky girl!
It was a big day for Taylor, and she took a really long nap after all the excitement (and her mom and dad may have napped as well :-)).
Here are some pictures from Taylor's first Easter Sunday!!
Family picture (trying to get all three of us using photo booth) At church (iphone pictures :-))
I think we have hit a growth spurt period this past week – combination of really LONG naps, and eating every HOUR some evenings seems to indicate that our little girl is expending more energy than usual lately!
So at six weeks, here is what Taylor is up to…
** Much more cooing, our girl is finding her voice, very cute!!
** More frequently only waking me up once between 11pm and 7am!!
** Giving me more little smiles during the day (mornings are her most smiley times right now)
** Lots more head control, she is being able to sit for longer and longer periods with her head up
** Still loves pushing with her little legs – push, push, push, kick, kick, kick!
** Sucking a pacifier more easily now, which has become a great way to help her calm down when she starts to get overtired and fussy (but she still hasn’t really figured out how to KEEP it in once she starts sucking)
** Taking feedings every once and a while from a bottle (we lucked out with the Dr. Brown’s bottles that we bought to try first), but it is still not her favorite thing – we have six more weeks to work on it until it is time for daycare!
** When she sits in her bouncy chair, she really focuses on the little turtle and will bat at it with her little hand
** She seems to really like her monkey mobile and will stare at it as the little monkeys go round and round
Pictures...
Getting ready to go out and walk in 70 degree weather!!
Snuggling with her new, handmade pink blanket - love it!! (It's her first blanket that is not gender neutral :-))
Sweet, sleeping face
Hitting the turtle with her little hand
Staring at the monkey mobile
Having fun taking pictures with Photo Booth together
Yes - for now, this blog has been taken over by baby updates. But I love our little girl, and she is much more interesting than Ryan or I - so here goes the five week update.
Taylor continues to change so much week by week. We stepped on the scale together this morning, and she is somewhere around 10 and 1/2 pounds (give or take a half pound) - big girl! She is wearing mostly 0-3 month clothes, some 3 month things, but I think I shrunk a few of those little outfits. Taylor is a warm little girl, and even though she has a lot of cute little outfits, she mostly hangs out in her long sleeve onesies -anything more makes her too hot! She is awake much more often, especially in the evenings. She is so much stronger, too. When she is doing tummy time, she just kicks and pushes with her little legs, and she can hold up her head much longer than ever before! Taylor is very close to smiling on a regular basis. In the morning, and when she wakes up from long naps I can sometimes get little grins out of her. Taylor goes to sleep around 11:00 every night, and gets up around 2 or 3, then again at 4 or 5, then is up at 7 or 8 in the morning. I change her diaper, feed her, and she goes right back to sleep after feeding, so I am very thankful for that!! She is also starting too coo a lot more - which I love! She makes the cutest little noises. Taylor gets a bath every other day, we walk daily, she enjoys her Little Einstein play mat much more (see pictures below), and looks up at me with the sweetest little eyes when I sing Disney songs to her as we rock in the rocking chair together. She had her first overnight in Battle Creek last weekend, and finally got to meet her uncle Jeff! We also got to visit Ryan at work, and we had the nicest little get-together with Ryan's coworkers. It has been a great week! And now...pictures!! Taylor at 5 weeks Taylor at a week and a half old - can you see a difference from the picture above? Taking a walk in the baby Bjorn
Taylor getting ready to head out for a walk Taylor looking in the mirror Hmmm... I'm not sure about these toys... Taylor checking out the big blue whale Taylor with her first piggy bank - given to Taylor by one of Ryan's coworkers (a perfect gift for an accountant's daughter!)Trying to catch Taylor giving one of her morning smiles
Taylor checking out daddy's ball cap Taylor with grandma mem and grandpa in Battle Creek Taylor very relaxed and cozy Taylor meeting uncle Jeff!! Yay!!
