A New Milestone!

Guess who rolled over yesterday?

This gal!  Emilie sleeps like a champ in her crib at night, but pretty much refuses to nap in there.  However, she's been sick with a cough and stuffy nose for the past week.  So yesterday I rocked her to sleep in the early afternoon and put her in her crib for a much needed nap.  When we heard her stirring (and grunting, lord is she a grunter) not much after putting her down I found her on her belly!  I called Steve upstairs and we watched her roll back and forth from her side to her belly and back.  She had some trouble getting her arm out from under her, but the pediatrician told us that sometimes chubby babies take longer to get the swing of it since they've got more cush :)

Speaking of pediatricians, we went for our 4 month checkup Wednesday!  Emilie is 17 pounds even and 26 inches long which keeps her in the 90-97th percentile.  Once again she sucked down the liquid immunization, didn't flinch for the first shot and cried for about 3.5 seconds on the second.  The kid is resilient, that's for sure.

This weekend we decorated Christmas cookies with Simon and Ruby.  Simon really being the only kid there who could appreciate what was going on.  And he sure did: 

We also got E an exersaucer this weekend.  We get a little "report" at the end of every day at daycare with info on how much she ate and stuff.  Sometimes they write little notes like "Emilie loved story time!"  It's cute.  Anyways, the report the other day said something about her loving the "saucer" and Steve and I had no idea what it meant and oddly, didn't even think to ask about it (I'm not sure if that's good or bad).  Then Steve calls me Friday saying that it's the "big kid" toy in the playroom!  She's in the big kid (um, big as in under 12 months) toy!  Wow!  So we went and got her one of her own because she loves to stand on those chubby legs and until she learns to sit on her own having another place to "put" her while I make dinner is actually super helpful.

Needless to say, she loves it.  Here are a few random extras...

Catching a few Zzz's with monkey before daycare.



"They weren't kidding, I'm cute!"

Not much else is new.  Like I said, E's been sick so it's basically been snot city around here.  All weekend it's been nap on mom time and I not so secretly love it.  I hate that she's sick, but I'll take the stiff neck/sore back that comes with her napping on me anytime :)

I'll leave you with our best video yet.  It's a combo of E being ridiculously adorable and confirmation that I am the funniest person alive.



Look at this big girl!  The first picture was around 1 month old and now she's almost 4 months on the right.  Big differences too...she can lift her head all of the way up when she's on her tummy and even push herself up a little with her arms.  She's got a half roll going on where she rolls over onto her side, but not all of the way yet.  She does it in one of the videos below :)

Emilie is talking.  A lot.  If Steve and I are talking to each other and she's feeling left out, she'll start yelling until we pay attention to her.  Not screaming or crying mind you, but more raising her voice like "Hey!  Jerks!  Look at me being cute over here!"  She's also learning how to use her voice in different ways.  The first video below is her chatting away and the second is her impersonation of a baby Chewbacca.

While E hasn't learned to sit up on her own yet, my parents bought her a Bumpo seat that basically smooshes babies into a chair to allow them to sit up like a big kid.  It's kinda neat :)  The other night however, she started getting really, really sleepy in it.  And sleepy = CUTE.

E has also taken to laughing more and more which is like crack!  Steve and I work our ASSES off to get her to smile and laugh at us.  The other night Steve had her laughing while she had the hiccups.

And finally, E has learned to imitate!  She's been so observant over the past few months and now it's starting to pay off.  I was sitting around making farty noises--because that's how I do--and she started imitating me!  She's a real person y'all! :)

Happy Turkey Day yinz!

Halloweenie

Someone does not understand yet the awesomeness that is fall daylight savings time.  So we've been up since 4:30.  Mind you, that's 5:30 pre-daylight savings--and she doesn't usually even get up that early.  WTF.  But she's napping on the couch now so I figured I'd use the opportunity (since I'm wide awake) to update the blog. 

Emilie's first Halloween just passed and it was FUN.  They delayed the actual trick or treating until this weekend due to the hurricane, but that didn't stop E from getting dressed up for daycare!

I absolutely love the scrub hat, and though you can't see it in this image, there are little scrub booties too.  But one is never enough, so E had a separate costume for handing out candy...

And finally a third special set of jammies for this Halloweenie...

Her cheeks are like apples.  And I want to eat them.  Also unseen on these images...little kitties on the feet of the pajamas.  It kills me!

This weekend E and I went door knocking to GOTV for Obama.  I've canvassed before and never really encountered anyone that was rude, but folks usually just smiled, said yes that they were voting while they closed the door on you.  Got a baby dressed as a moo cow?  They suddenly have more time to hear what you have to say. 

E did incredibly well given it was a lot more shuffling than I had expected.  The area we were given was a lot more spread out than previous neighborhoods I've canvassed in, so it was a lot of in and out of the carseat/baby bjorn.  But she took it all in stride and didn't cry once.  They sent us out with a young man who was a union organizer.  When he first saw that he was being sent out with a lady and her baby I'm pretty sure I saw a look of "kill me now" pass over his face.  When I dropped him back off at the headquarters he commented on how good she was and thanked me for bringing her though :)  She passed the F out when we got home though and that's a fact.  Hopefully all will go well on Tuesday and one day E will know she took part in the re-election of Barack Obama.

And this picture just cracks me up.  Period.

For your viewing pleasure...



This kid, gawd I love this kid!

She's been pulling her legs all of the way up!

  

Her head too! 

 

Izzy Bear sniffing out the situation.



Getting ready for Halloween!

 

Oh you know, just reading on a Saturday afternoon.  No big deal.



E sleeping might just be one of my favorite things.




We went for a walk and saw a cardinal, a bluebird, 2 squirrels and a home that made a "mini library" in their front yard--a cabinet full of books with a sign encouraging people to "take one, leave one."  Okay, mostly I saw these things.  Nevertheless, I love my neighborhood.

I love that this video starts with her kinda doing her own thing and then around :10 she suddenly realizes that I'm talking to her.

This Thursday E's daycare is having school pictures.  School pictures!  She's not even 3 months old!  And we totally love it! :)  So we'll be ordering an official school picture package.  If you want in on this cutenazz let me know (family folks you're getting it regardless :). 

And next week?  HALLOWEEN!  E has 2 costumes ready--pictures to come!



Bloopers

The videos from the last post are pretty cute.  And there will be more to come.  But they're not always that cute.  Sometimes E will do something I feel compelled to catch but when I've got the camera on her, well...

And this one isn't so much Emilie, but an unexpected reaction from Izzy:

Steve and I took E for her 2 month check up a few days ago and our girl is 14 pounds, 13 ounces!  She's growing like a weed and continues to be in the 95th percentile and above.  She also took her vaccinations like a CHAMP.  They gave her one vaccination in liquid form and you'd think we never fed her.  Girl sucked it down like candy.  Then they gave her two shots in the leg which was harder on mom and dad than anything else.  She cried for less than a minute and then got over it.  That night she became extra fussy and (as recommended by her MD) we gave her some children's Tylenol.  She also ate that up, no problem.  I somehow don't think food and eating will be an issue for this kid...who knows.

In addition to her physical growth, E is developing in so many ways these days! 

• Babbling:  E babbles up a storm (see video below if you haven't already).  She has so much to say, just not the words to say it yet.
• Smiling:  She is full on smiling and it is FANTASTIC!  It feels so special to see her smile!  And she's started laughing a little. 
• Hand/eye coordination:  E is catching onto this whole grab-thing-and-put-in-mouth thing. She has a vibrating rocker that we hung rings from and she can be found either holding onto two (looking very much like those gymnasts that use the rings) and/or bringing them to her mouth.  She also will figure out how to grab stuffed animals that are placed on her chest and bring them to her mouth.  She's also kicking things in her activity gym that she previously didn't know was there.
• Sleep:  For the past week E has been sleeping through the night!  10pm through 6am!
• Neck control: It seems each day she gets stronger and stronger.  If you're carrying her you barely have to hold her neck because she's got so much control.  In fact, when we're sitting with her on the couch, she'll push herself away a bit and then try to turn her head all the way to look at the TV.  Speaking of which--she will go to great lengths to catch a glimpse of the television.  We're running out of ways to keep her from it and will soon have to turn it off entirely (YIKES for us!).
• Recognition:  The other night we were at Jodi and Stacey's and Steve met us there after he was done with work.  When E saw him she started squirming and making all sorts of noises.  It's super cute :)

E starts daycare on Monday :^O  I'll let you all know how it goes once I can see through all of the tears and snot.

That VOICE!

I LOVE Emilie's voice!  I seriously cannot get enough of it, so I thought you'd enjoy hearing it too!  Enjoy!

A Parental Update

At almost 2 months old Emilie is smiling!  And it is darn CUTE!

She continues to sleep well and be aware of her surroundings more and more, but I thought I'd take a moment to update you on how we're developing as parents. 

First, we are perfecting the art of not getting pooped and peed on when changing our baby.  For a while there it seemed inevitable, Steve even coining the term "The Dad Special" which is a trifecta of poop, pee and vomit all at once.  Now Emilie has to get clever about getting us, and believe me she's finding ways to do so.  So while the battle of staying clean on the changing table has been fought, the war continues.

Second, we're learning how to eat.  Fast.  Friday night we left E with Grandma and Grandpa Sill for her first babysitting experience (thankyouverymuch!) and we had to remind ourselves to not scarf down this delicious, very expensive dinner.  It was also kinda lovely to eat together for the first time in two months!

Thirdly, we're learning that come time to sleep the world is a VERY LOUD place.  Since when did everything make so much goddamn noise?!  I don't remember cars, floors, barks and just about every other little thing making so much noise.  And to beat it, I just might be the loudest son of a bitch of them all!  I don't remember coughing, sneezing, bumping and dropping so many things in my life.

And finally, to piggy back on the topic of sleep, I'm not sure I've ever made so many desperate pleas in my life.  I'd like to note here that I totally get that I'm a dick for even writing this because E sleeps so well.  So please don't hate me if you choose to continue to read on.  I don't have trouble waking up to feed her in the middle of the night, and the majority of the time she goes right back to sleep afterwards (again, so, so grateful).  But if I go back to bed and hear her stirring on the monitor, there's a special type of pain in sliding back into bed and then having to get back up again.  So when I first hear her making noises I end up making crazy pleas to God knows who-God, Emilie, myself, the Goddess of Babies, I dunno.  But it tends to go something like this in my head at 4:30 am:

[whimper, whimper] "Dear God please don't wake back up....[whimper, whimper] go back to sleep...[grunt] If you go back to sleep I'll be a better person...[grunt, grunt] If you go back to sleep I'll start donating more time...okay, money to charity...[GRUNT] IF YOU GO BACK TO SLEEP I'LL TRAVEL TO AFRICA AND PERSONALLY FEED ALL OF THE STARVING CHILDREN."  And then I get back up.

So I'd like to take a moment here to acknowledge those of you who have to do this on a regular basis.  I appreciate your physical and mental strength. 

Now, moving on from the painful part of sleep and onto the cute.

Also, because baby feet are so stinkin' cute:

And because every Burgh Baby's first Steeler game is special:

Next up: Videos of Emilie!

A Swartz Family Visit

The last time we met Emilie was getting ready to have her first bottle feeding and it went swimmingly!  As some of you already know, I've been having a love/hate/butmostlyhate relationship with breastfeeding.  Turns out I have a lot of milk that rushes in really, really fast.  Having a lot of milk readily available sounds like a good problem to have, but essentially I'm water boarding my kid each time I go to feed her.  Seriously. 

But, now that we've introduced a bottle once a day to start preparing for daycare, turns out that pumping once a day has really helped slow down the rapids that are my milk ducts :)  Here are E and dad enjoying dinner together:

We also had a visit from Grandma and Grandpa Swartz last weekend!  Emilie was showered in cuddles and Harley gear :)  She is officially a badass.  Unfortunately I got sick the night they arrived, so our activities were limited, but we did get over to the Sills for brunch on Sunday for a few (hundred) photos.



Grandmas



Grandpas

And of course shortly after this visit E caught her first cold (thanks to mom).  She luckily did not have a fever, but was pretty snotty all week.  But even with boogies galore, she kept her spirits up.  Here are a few randoms from the week:


Steve took this one morning that E and I were both still sick.



Thank you Jodi and Stacey for the activity mat!  As you can see she likes it okay.



I f-ing love this picture.  LOVE it.  When I look at it I hear those little green men from Toy Story going "ooohh" when they're in The Claw machine.



We had our 1 month visit at the pediatrician on Friday and all continues to be well!  Our little girl is not so little, as she's 12 lbs, 8 oz and 23 inches long!  We're already creeping into the 3-6 month clothes :)

Today we're all going to the Pittsburgh Irish Festival to share with E important parts of her heritage--really shitty food and really good beer :D 

Somebunny is 1 month old!

Emilie is a whole month old!  In one short month she is so different from when we brought her home.  First off, she's now 11 pounds, 12 ounces!  That's three pounds in 4 weeks, which is awesome.  She's also so alert!  She's making all sorts of eye contact and if she hears mom or dads voice she'll turn that way.  And speaking of voices E has been talking a lot more herself!  Turns out she has a lot to say about the Republican nomination.  Girl is pissed :)  When she's not ranting about how she doesn't even know what her uterus is yet and Republicans already want to regulate it, she's mostly making little coos.

Emilie is also sleeping 5-7 hous at a time which has been quite the gift.  If we have other children that dont sleep as well I don't know what we'll do.  And finally, E is still only smiling when she farts or is sleeping (babies usually start smiling around 2 months), we think she's close to giving us a social smile.  When we give her lots of kisses you can tell she likes it and wants to smile, so hopefully soon!



She looks like she's doing a jig here.



Good morning



This picture cracks me up!



Chunky Monkey

Dress by the talented Valerie Ford

Love


Tonight Emilie will try her very first bottle!  We'll be introducing one bottle a day to get ready for daycare and well, to give mom's boobs a break once a day :) 

And right about now Grandma and Grandpa Swartz should be landing for a weekend visit!  Lookout for the next post!

3 weeks!

Three weeks?  It both feels like three minutes and three years all at once! 

At three weeks lil' Emilie is spending more time awake during the day and a little more time asleep at night (sometimes).  Last night both E and I enjoyed SEVEN blissful hours of sleep.  It was glorious. 

Due to this decrease in daytime sleep I'll keep this brief so I can post some pics for you all and still check my celebrity gossip blogs online to maintain my sanity.  So enjoy!



Chipmunk Cheeks!

 

Tummy Time





"With God, this Butterfly and Mom's breast as my witness--I'll never go hungry again!"

The First Weeks

Well it's been almost 2 weeks since Emilie has arrived and we're slowly getting into the groove of how to live with a newborn.  It may all change tomorrow, but for now we're living with one hungry, hungry hippo who likes to sleep for the better part of the day :)  At night she's been sleeping from 10-2 am and then in 2 hour increments, which is great as far as I'm concerned.  And I say "I" because since we're (okay, I am) breastfeeding it's up to mom to get up and keep night watch.  So far so good, but I can't say I haven't looked over at Steve dreaming away and wanted to give him shaken baby syndrome :D

I kid, I kid.  Steve has been quite the dad and partner (which is no surprise) and has been running his butt off over these past two weeks.  Emilie needs a diaper change?  Dads on it.  We need more milk?  Apple juice?  Ice cream?  Dads on it.  It's been great and both Emilie and I will be sad to see him go back to work next week.

In the meantime, Steve and I have been officially initiated into parenthood!  Emilie has assisted us via projectile vomit, surprise urination and diaper blowouts.  I'm pretty sure she's actually gotten more bodily fluids on us than herself.

Grandma Ford came for a visit this week which gave us a break from said surprise pees and poops and allowed for extra cuddles all around.

After about a week and a half of being in the house, this mom started to get a bit stir crazy, so we went on our first outing to Schenley Park.



Lovin' from daddy





It's never too early to practice sun safety!



Tonight Emilie gets to meet more family and tomorrow we say goodbye (for now) to Grandma Ford.  Dad goes back to work and then it's me and Em to fend for ourselves throughout the day! :^O