08.10.04 / Uncategorized / Author: admin / Comments: (0)
September 30:
Audrey is still fairly indiscriminate, anyone who approaches her with a smile delights her and becomes an instant friend. She’s is now just starting to show signs of “stranger/separation anxiety” by occasionally crying if unfriendly people try to hold her. She rarely cries and is a very happy spirited baby. She does yell and squeal a lot now though, letting you know if she really likes or hates something. She’s also laughs really hard now when we play with her, she has the baby equivalent of cracking up!
September 25:
Audrey has gone through quite a few hurricanes now! This time we lost power for more than a day so we spent one night at my mother’s house. This was her first “overnight” trip. She did pretty well, even trying to sleep without AC the night before. She used a high chair for the first time over the weekend. It provided much entertainment for my mother and I while we waited out the storm (Rob was working.) She is just so darn cute when she eats! She is a good eater, sometimes eating 3 tbsps of cereal and 2 -3 jars of baby food in a single feeding!
September 22:
Audrey is rolling over multiple times now. She’s getting very quick! I have to watch her closely every second so that she doesn’t roll off of her play mat into the coffee table. Yesterday she rolled underneath it and almost hit her head when she lifted it up! We really need to go get her a high chair and some baby gates. This is all happening so fast! She’s eating different foods now. She absolutely hates peas and green beans. Her Daddy is not a big fan of vegetables ( surviving on a well balanced diet of Doritos, Diet Vanilla Pepsi and peanut butter cup ice cream.) If I didn’t cook dinner I’m not sure he would ever eat a vegetable on his own. Anyway, Audrey doesn’t seem to be a fan of vegetables either. She loves sweet potatoes but when I try to give her carrots or squash she looks at me like she’s completely disgusted and after a few bits refuses to eat. Pears are probably her favorite fruit (like her Daddy) but she likes them all except peaches. She will be staying in Stage 1 foods until November. Although, I am convinced she’s ready for more advanced foods. She’s about ready to feed herself as far as I can tell. She grabs the spoon and pulls it in her mouth and chews on it. Once we get the high chair I will let her try feeding herself.
September 16:
Audrey slept in her crib last night for the first time (this was the second attempt, the first night she only lasted till 2:15 am!) She slept from 11:00 pm until 5:45 am in her crib, and then slept for a three more hours in her swing in our room! It was not easy moving her out of our room. Rob was even more reluctant than I was! She’s growing up too fast, I’m already dreading her wanting to sleep over friend’s houses! Can’t she stay little forever? We’ve added a picture of her sleeping in her crib.
02.10.04 / Uncategorized / Author: admin / Comments: (0)
I got an email from my Mom earlier this week letting me know that the Stanley Cup would be at TBSA this morning. I knew it would be tough taking Audrey to get a picture with it, considering the lines and long wait, but I decided that it was a once-in-a-lifetime event and it would be something she’d love later in life…
Okay, who am I kidding, I thought it would be damn cute to have a picture of her with the Cup…it had nothing to do with her. So, I took her this morning and got some pics. I skipped the line the first time because my Mom let me cut. Considering I had the baby with me, nobody really complained. Since she was so good the first time, I went back for seconds. The second time they actually let me sit her IN the Cup for the picture…see links under “Pictures” to get to the pics.
Since she was born the during the Playoff Run of 2004…and now that she has TOUCHED the Cup…I see good things for the Lightning in the future =)
07.09.04 / Uncategorized / Author: admin / Comments: (1)
August 25:
Audrey rolled over in her crib today for the first time she rolled from her back to her tummy!
Since then, Audrey rolls over a lot and is holding he her head up very well when she is on her tummy.. she’ll be crawling in no time! She’s still having trouble getting from her tummy to her back. At her 4 month appointment she weighed 12 lbs 6 oz and was 23 inches long.
She has had a few trips to the mall now and is doing much better with outings. She’s crying less in the car seat now that she can play with toys and seems to really like being in her stroller.
She’s eating baby food twice a day now..about 1:00 and 7:00. She has 2 or 3 tablespoons of oatmeal mixed with formula and about 1/2 a jar of bananas, applesauce, or sweet potatoes. She doesn’t seem to like peaches or rice cereal. We are introducing new foods every few days. When she’s eating something she really likes she pulls the spoon into her mouth, its so cute!
She’s got her nighttime routine down pat…bath, bottle, bed. She goes right to sleep every time now. Sleeping pretty well, 10:30 – 5 am without having to be adjusted in any way. At 5:00 I put her in her swing and she goes right back to sleep until about 8:30. Some nights are easier then others but I am sleeping a lot more now.
She’s teething, confirmed by the Doctor, so she is drooling a lot and biting on anything (or any one) she can get her chubby little fingers on. She’s not very good with using the teething rings, she prefers to chew on blankets and soft toys.
Now that I know the teeth are coming I am glad that I am not nursing anymore (OUCH!). She hasn’t nursed in a week. She was nursing only in the morning (when I have the most milk) but she started waking up later and later and was not interested in nursing when she woke up anymore. The milk comes from the bottle so fast that waiting for “let down” was frustrating her, and me….so we strictly use the bottle now. I do miss it a little (she made the cutest noises while eating) but feeding her is no longer stressful to either of us and now Mommy can get her body back! I joined eDiets (love them) and should be back to my pre-pregnancy weight by Thanksgiving!
August 24:
Audrey had Oatmeal today for the 1st time and loved it! She smiled and let out a little coo when she got her first taste of it…
August 15:
Audrey had Gerber rice cereal today for the first time (She’s not quite 4 months, she’s 15 weeks, close enough right?) She did pretty well…but boy was it messy! I just realized how easy it is to only bottle feed!
01.08.04 / Uncategorized / Author: admin / Comments: (0)
Audrey laughed today! She’s been making little laugh like sounds for about 2 weeks but today she did a very clear little giggle while Rob tickled her with his chin under her arms.
We visited our friends Jay and Lisa today. They have two gorgeous little girls and a son, Sam, who is 1 week younger than Audrey! There is a link to a picture of her with her first “friend.” It was nice to get out of the house and learn tricks for veteran parents. Jay’s underarm/chin tickling technique was what finally made Audrey let out a real giggle.
My wonderful mother took me shopping for some new clothes so that I can finally retire the maternity wear and stop trying to squeeze into my pre-pregnancy wardrobe. It feels so good to wear clothes that fit and feel like I’m starting to get my figure back. I’m hoping these last 15lbs will be easier to get rid of once I stop nursing. We are giving Audrey about 2 bottles a day now and she’s starting to become spoiled by the bottle which is what all those books warned me about. I can’t pump enough to keep up though so we are weaning her very slowly. I plan to nurse as long as I can, but I seem to be producing less and less milk and her demand is increasing daily. Hopefully I can last a few more weeks since she’ll be staring food then. I have another great quote, this time from my friend Lisa, “Breastfeeding is oppressive.” That’s very accurate. You’re tied to the house and a slave to your breasts when you nurse! I would do it again for sure, but any ideas I had about nursing for a whole year have faded away completely. I love the bonding that goes with breastfeeding and I will miss that part a lot. But I figure I can spend even more time with her if I’m not busy torturing myself with that damn pump twice a day! I think if you do it for a year Le Leche League should send you a gold medal or something!?!?! What a sacrifice!
Many of you all ask me what I need and I now have a request! SAVE YOUR BABY PRODUCT COUPONS FOR ME! No matter what brand. I have discovered a whole mommy underworld on the internet of coupon trading! We use Huggies Diapers, Nestle GooodStart Supreme DHA/ARA formula, and next week she will be starting Gerber Stage 1 Foods. However, there are many other Moms online willing to trade Pampers for Huggies, Beechnut for Gerber, etc! So save them all! Ever since Audrey was born and I saved just over 30 dollars during one trip to SuperWalmart by using coupons, I’ve become a coupon addict! 30 bucks is a spa pedicure!!!! Too bad no one makes free time coupons. =(
25.07.04 / Uncategorized / Author: admin / Comments: (0)
Audrey was baptized today at St. Thomas Aquinas Church. Aunt Mindy and Uncle Chris are her Godparents. Audrey looked SO pretty in the baptismal gown. She wore the same one my sisters and I wore when we were Baptized. She cried through half of the baptism, mostly because it was very hot in the church and she had on 3 layers of lace. She got some lovely gifts from her family including money for her savings account created by Grandma Blom and savings bonds! Her Aunt Michele had a star named for her in the Andromeda constellation (the Princess constellation)! There is a link to her star under “Currently…!”
This weekend she also got to meet her Aunt Mindy for the first time. Aunt Mindy loved playing with her, until it was time to change a dirty diaper 🙂 She spent some more time in the pool this weekend and seems to be enjoying it. She also rolled over for the first time the morning of her baptism. We aren’t entirely sure that she did it 100% on her own since I was sitting on the bed when she first started, causing it to dip and giving her a bit of decline to roll onto. She hasn’t done it again since then so we will wait before we add that one to her list of accomplishments.
20.07.04 / Uncategorized / Author: admin / Comments: (0)
Audrey is putting everything in her mouth now…she is able to suck her thumb pretty well but usually tries to shove her entire fist in her mouth. She also discovered her feet today, sticking them up in the air to look at them, it was awfully cute!
It’s a miracle! I am sleeping! No more waking up at 1:30, 2:45, 3:15, 5:30, 7:00 etc…! Tried rice cereal, didn’t work. Tried formula, didn’t work. Tried the Miracle Blanket and have slept every night since! Its a specially-designed swaddling blanket and it’s awesome! We were swaddling her in regular receiving blankets before and she would come “undone” not long after she fell asleep. This blanket is shaped so that she can’t ” escape!” It looks like a little baby straight jacket but I swear she loves it. As soon as we wrap her up at night she calms down and is asleep within 15 minutes! Since the day we started using the blanket she’s slept from 11:30 – 3:30 wakes up for about 20 minutes to eat and sleeps again from about 4:00 – 8:30! I am writing the guy who makes them a recommendation – SO worth the 30 bucks!
http://www.colichelp.com/shop/swaddlingblanket.html
Audrey has also started liking Avent pacifiers and this is making life easier too. (It’s hard to cry when there is a pacifier in your mouth!) The Gerber Nucs were too heavy and kept falling out but these stay in pretty well and help put her to sleep. Our next challenge is getting her to skip that 3:30 feeding and sleep through the night! Once she can do that we can put her to sleep in her crib (wow, imagine that?!?!?!) So, now life is good because I get about 7 hours of sleep a night…just not in a row!
I don’t know why, but her acne has come back on her face. I’m praying this goes away soon; I can’t remember what she looked like WITHOUT acne now! She’s smiling, making gurgles, coos, and squeals a lot now. She seems to want to laugh but can’t quite get the sound out yet.
We are so excited that Aunt Mindy will be meeting Audrey Grace for the first time later this week! I will post about that later this month and add more pictures from Mindy’s visit.
09.07.04 / Uncategorized / Author: admin / Comments: (0)
After finally getting a chance to put away all of Audrey’s gifts and clean up her room I have come to realize that she truly has more clothes than she could ever possibly wear. I counted approximately 50 articles of clothing size 3-6 months and just as many in size 6-9. I am begging all of you extremely generous friends and family members to please stop buying clothes for her! I know it’s hard to resist all this cute pink dresses in the stores, but there are starving children in other parts of the world and my child has clothes that she may never even have the opportunity to wear! This is giving me serious guilt! Since I know some of you will firmly refuse the idea of not buying any more clothing, I am asking that you at least hold off until Christmas when she will be needing some 12-month sized clothes. In the mean time, buy all those clothes that you can’t resist and pack them up to donate to babies who really need them. Thanks!
Link to donate:
Metropolitan Ministries:
http://www.metmin.org
07.07.04 / Uncategorized / Author: admin / Comments: (0)
June 19th
Today was “Meet Audrey Grace Day” at my Mom’s house, this was Audrey’s first time meeting my side of the family and our family’s friends. She also went in the pool for the first time today and wore the bikini her Aunt Michele bought her, she was too damn cute. We had a great day and of course, everyone loved her.
July 5
We spent the 4th of July weekend with my parents and it was very relaxing! We floated around the pool on rafts and it was like a little hour long vacation! Audrey is taking the bottle now so my Mom took care of her and fed her while I goofed off in the pool with Rob, Lorrie, and Chris. This was the first true leisure time I’ve had and it felt wonderful.
Luckily Rob and I have lots of family members willing to watch the baby however we have still been unable to manage a night out together. Were usually just too tired to even want to go. We are hoping to try and get out to a dinner or a movie sometime soon. It’s hard to do anything but sleep with free time, getting dressed and going out seems like a chore. This makes us wonder how people ever have more than one child; when do find the time or have the energy to conceive again?!?! I used to be amazed by stories of women with ten kids simply because they gave birth ten times…what’s even more amazing is that with NINE kids the couple had the opportunity and desire to have sex!
I’ve been back at work for over a week now and starting to feel like my old competent professional self again (as opposed to my “Milk Machine Mommy” alter ego.) After difficult nights it is hard to lecture on just a few hours of sleep, but I am managing. I miss her a lot, sometimes I just want to drive home in the middle of class to smell her and see her smile at me!
She’s really starting to show her personality now and we expect that she will be laughing soon. She still isn’t sleeping through the night…and yes I tried the rice cereal, it didn’t work. We just bought a new swaddling blanket and hopefully that will help. She had an appointment with the pediatrician Friday so I will update again then.
25.06.04 / Uncategorized / Author: admin / Comments: (0)
Audrey has a new trick, she smiles! She HAD been doing that for some time, but it usually only preceded letting one rip or right before she dozed off. But now she does it in reaction to our talking to her! This past weekend, “Cool” Uncle Chris was over and was playing with her in her bouncy chair. He said “Oh wow, I think she smiled at me!” Alicia and I looked at eachother as if to say, “Time to change the diaper,” but sure enough, when we walked over to her she was grinning from ear to ear at him! Now, at least for a short period of time every day, you can catch her in a “smiling mood…”
17.06.04 / Uncategorized / Author: admin / Comments: (0)
The Pimple Saga Continues…
We went to the dermatologist this morning who didn’t think my Angel’s pimples were a big deal at all. He showed us pictures of kids with the same thing in his medical books and gave us an antifungal cream to use because, evidently, this is the general treatment. (I don’t know why we are supposed to use fungal cream when it’s not a fungus, I only got 3 hours of sleep last night so you’ll have to ask Rob about that.) We are also supposed to continue with the Cetaphil and try Antibacterial Cetaphil. He told us it will clear up on its own, probably by the time she’s 3 months. So, in a nutshell, this is a problem that won’t be solved with the help of modern medicine.
Audrey was sleeping through the night pretty well and also took a bottle without protest until last week. Now she screams her head off every we try and feed her with a bottle and doesn’t give in for about 5 hours, at which point she must give in due to hunger. She also wakes up every two hours now. Last night she slept from 1:30 – 3:30, 4:30 – 6:00 and 6:30 – 7:15… I slept even less than this of course because I can’t fall asleep until AFTER she’s been asleep for a few minutes. She doesn’t cry when she wakes up like she used to, I try to feed her but she’s usually not even all that hungry! (I know, I know, rice cereal… but I’m trying not to go that route unless absolutely necessary… i.e. I can no longer function!) If you want to know about why I am avoiding it see the articles below:
Article #1
Article #2
I don’t know what’s going on but it really sucks since I have to go back to work in less than two weeks. I don’t know how I’m going to manage this. Maybe we’ll win the lottery and I can just stay home… and hire a housekeeper and a personal trainer.
To top it all off I have my period. Yes, I’m still breastfeeding….Yes, I said period. After 9 months of trying to get pregnant, NOW I am the most fertile woman on the planet…go figure?!?! To top it all off, have not slept for than 4 hours straight in about 50 days. I don’t think I have finished a dream since before the baby was born?!?! I’m lucky if I make it to REM at all…
You know, you guys can post comments to this site now (see COMMENTS at the end of any post.) Any advice would be appreciated…except rice cereal. 🙂