Life Lately

Just some recent photos of life around these parts...

My mom couldn't resist a matching outfit set for these two.  They won't have many matching things, but it's fun to do this once in awhile. 

Henry LOVES "Nanie."  I am going to do a separate post on his transition to big brother.  I really couldn't be much prouder of him and how well he has done.

Mark gave Natalie her first bottle two days after her one-month birthday!  I was worried she wouldn't take it since she refuses a pacifier these days, but she sucked it right down.  And then, just like her big brother, wanted more.

Henry with the truck du jour.

Beginning of a smile!

Smile!

Beautiful girl.

More smiles!

This is my favorite outfit of Natalie's.  It is from Janie and Jack.  Their things are so cute but so pricey!  Especially given that they are outgrown in a matter of weeks.

Sleeping--in the bouncer!  She probably woke up right after this photo was taken ;-)

Big cheesin' with his favorite truck.

Look at that face!

"Sleeping" like Rowan.

One Month

Natalie was not super thrilled to be having her photo taken on her one-month birthday, so these photos were the best we could manage.  At least she's not screaming in them, right?!

On August 17, 2014, Natalie turned one month old!

Natalie is growing like a weed.  At her one-month checkup, she weighed 9 pounds, 10 ounces, and was 21.5 inches long.  These measurements put her in the 59% for weight and the 54% for height.  She was exactly three pounds above her birth weight, and she well exceeded the average of one ounce gained per day! 

Natalie sure looks like she is becoming a little butterball, too.  She has the roundest cheeks.  She also fills out her 0-3 month clothing nicely, although there are some newborn items she can still wear.  Like Henry, Natalie is long in the torso.  It is less of a problem with the fit of clothes for her, because she can wear dresses, but I love rompers for girls.  So, I probably won't be able to buy ahead often because I won't know what size she'll need for the next season until closer to that time.

Natalie has developed quite a bad case of baby acne.  She really didn't get it until about 5 weeks, but it hit with a vengeance.  It is all over her face, chin, and even a few spots on her chest.  Henry had acne, but his wasn't this bad.  Mark asked me this morning if we should invest in some Covergirl for Natalie!  Ha.  In all seriousness, though, it should go away on its own soon.  I did read that sometimes babies with bad acne can have bad acne as teens, which would not be ideal, for her sake.  Hopefully that won't turn out to be true for Natalie...but why worry about something that's years in the distance.

In terms of eating, I feed Natalie every 2.5 hours to 3 hours during the day, with the hope that it will stretch out her night sleep.  So far, this has been a futile hope.  She is still up every 3 hours or so at night.  She does sometimes go 4 hours, especially for the first stretch.  And a few times she has gone 5-6 hours!  On those nights I feel like a human again ;-) 

Natalie's sleeping in general, or rather her sleeping preferences, leave much to be desired.  She is not a fan of sleeping anywhere except my arms, in the k'tan wrap (which is a lifesaver, by the way, and I HIGHLY recommend), or in the carseat when we're out and about.  She will sleep in the swing, finally, if she is sufficiently asleep when you put her in there.  If she's not, forget about it.  And sleeping in the rock n' play?  Not happening.  At naptime or at night.  Which means that Natalie is sleeping in our bed at night.  Not ideal at all.  I never, ever, wanted to co-sleep with a baby.  But here we are.  I am doing it because the alternative is listening to her cry and grunt in the rock n' play, when I am exhausted and just want to sleep, and I worry that her crying will wake Henry.  So, for the time being, Natalie is in our bed.  And even then, sometimes she fusses and is uncomfortable after eating, taking ten-fifteen minutes to settle down.  This is such a change from Henry, who would fall right asleep after nursing.  I am going to try out the mini crib this weekend.  Right now, the mini crib has turned into a storage area for clothes I need to store away.  But I think Natalie may do ok if she sleeps in that right next to my side of the bed.  Fingers crossed...if it doesn't work, I am going to invest in a co-sleeper to alleviate the worry that comes with a baby in the bed.

Natalie is still a fairly fussy baby, although she has improved markedly since I began using gas drops before each feeding.  She typically is pretty content during the day now.  Her witching hours are the period from about 7pm to 10pm.  She is usually fussy during this time and is only happy unless she's eating or in the wrap.  This makes it interesting for me, because I have been doing most of the parenting solo for the last several weeks, while Mark works nonstop preparing for a trial.  It is great fun trying to get Henry ready for bed with a crying, fussy baby, let me tell you.  Luckily, my wonderful Aunt Lois is willing to help wrangle Henry some nights when Mark isn't available.  This is a lifesaver for me, because she can play with Henry or help bathe him and get him ready for bed.  Our pediatrician told me that babies generally get less fussy by about week 8.  I am hoping this proves true for us.

During the day, though, Natalie is much happier than she used to be.  She now smiles and coos, typically after she eats.  All of those coos and smiles make the challenges of her fussiness worth it.  I don't remember how much Henry cooed at this age, but Natalie seems more vocal than he was.  I love it. Can't wait for the first belly laugh!

Natalie--Week Three

Typical Natalie--arms and legs everywhere!  The girl does not like to stay still.

Natalie was still fairly fussy this week, but I felt that overall there was an improvement over week two, and we had a few good days thrown in, too.  Including my birthday, which was nice.  Natalie must have known it was Mommy's birthday, because she was an angel the entire day.

Natalie had her first real restaurant experience this week when Mark went out for my birthday.  I was a bit nervous going in, because she is not a kid who will just sleep through anything like Henry was, but she did great!  She didn't make a peep the entire time.  We got a few compliments from the wait staff/hostesses, who were probably just as relieved as we that they didn't have a wailing baby interrupting peoples' dining experiences.

Natalie has gotten more social, too.  I am convinced that she smiled for me the first time this week.  I had her in my arms, looking up at me, as I was walking.  I looked down and talked to her, smiling, and she gave a huge, dimpled, gummy grin in response!  I melted.  It made all of the fussiness worth it to see that smile.  Now, maybe it was just a coincidence, but I choose to think it was intentional.  She has done it a couple of times since, and it gives me such joy to see her smile.  I can't wait for the smiles to become a regular thing!

Natalie has gotten a bit better at sleeping in places other than in someone's arms.  I am trying to make it a habit to put her in her rock n' play for naps.  Sometimes she takes great naps there, sometimes she lasts five or ten minutes and then wails.  I think the more she gets used to it, the better she will do.

Natalie still hates the swing, unfortunately.  I just couldn't fathom having a child who didn't adore the swing, as Henry loved it so much.  But, each child is his/her own person, and I may as well learn and appreciate that now.  Natalie is doing better with the swaddle at night, although she doesn't love it.  I also found a brand of pacifier Natalie will take--MAMs.  She refused basically all of the other kinds I tried, including Henry's beloved plush animal pacis.  I actually had to order the MAMs after doing a search for pacifiers without holes in the front, because I suspected part of the issue was the pacifiers were allowing more air in Natalie's belly and complicating the gas issue.  She doesn't love the pacifier like Henry did, but she will take it most of the time she is fussy, and it typically calms her.

Meeting my Nana, my dad's mom, for the first time!

Natalie was more impressed than she looks.

Natalie--Week Two

Natalie decided to make things more interesting for us in week two.  A couple days after her two week birthday, she started getting pretty fussy.  Not all-out colicky screaming, but crying frequently after eating and just generally being unhappy when she wasn't eating or sleeping.  Based on her symptoms (not spitting up, not arching her back), I determined she likely had problems with gas.  I mentioned it to the pediatrician at her two week appointment and was told to try gas drops or gripe water.  We picked up both immediately after the appointment (can you tell we were desperate?!) and used the gripe water after Natalie's next feeding.  It did help, which was a relief.  We use it probably three times a day now.

In week two, Natalie proved to be a very snuggly baby, which is good and bad.  It's good in that who doesn't love baby snuggles?!  Plus, I know I will miss this phase once she no longer wants Mommy to hold her all of the time.  But it's bad in that it makes it very difficult to get anything done!  Natalie is not too fond of napping in places other than in someone's arms.  She definitely won't nap in the swing.  So, not much gets accomplished during nap time.

Natalie lost her umbilical cord stump this week!  My mom found it during a diaper change.  It had been hanging on by a thread for a day or so prior.  I think tummy time may have irritated it a bit and sped up the falling off process.

Not the greatest photo of me.  But a good example of Natalie's preferred sleeping location.

Natalie's stats at her two-week appointment were 7 pounds, 8 ounces (another 10 ounce gain!) and 21 inches long.  I need to find the paper that tells me the percentages for these measurements, and I will add those when I do.

Natalie--Week One

Well, given that Natalie will be a month old in three days, I suppose that now is as good a time as any to finally post her weekly updates.  Here is week one.

This is the very first outfit I bought Natalie.  In fact, I bought it even before I was pregnant with her, hoping that one day I would have a daughter to wear it! 

Natalie was a dream baby during her first week of life.  She rarely fussed, slept for three hour increments at night, and sometimes even longer, and ate well. 

The only real dislikes Natalie had in week one were getting dressed or undressed and, at times, having her diaper changed.  She is a wild woman when it comes to having her diaper changed and her clothes changed.  Pretty much the minute you lie her on the changing table, her arms go straight out to the sides and her legs start kicking.  She is then in full-steam ahead action mode until you pick her back up.  I had a feeling, based on every heartbeat check and ultrasound where I was told how active she was, that she would keep up the activity outside of the womb.  I was right.

Two other things Natalie doesn't love: the swing and the swaddle.  I was shocked because they were like baby cocaine for Henry, particularly the swing.  Let me tell you, too, I was (and am) pretty bummed that the swing doesn't instantly soothe Natalie like it did Henry.  That was our go-to way to get Henry to calm down whenever he was upset.  I keep trying and hoping that one day Natalie will realize she actually loves the swing.

Natalie didn't seem too interested in a pacifier.  I didn't really try to offer it to her too much, though, because she was generally content without one.

Natalie tried out tummy time for the first time this week!  As you can see from the photos below, which were taken successively, Natalie is following in her big brother's footsteps and can already turn her head from one side to the other.  This feat is standard for three weeks old, so Natalie is ahead of the game and clearly is going to be a genius.

Hanging out with Mommy and big brother!  Henry loves his sister and is great with her!  It is such a relief.  I hope they will be lifelong friends.

"Hi, Nanie!"

Telling me something riveting.

Before Natalie's first post-hospital bath!  I hate to admit it, but the second child syndrome is alive and well in our house.  Poor Natalie has been bathed four times, I think, since birth.  Judge all you want; I know it's awful!

Natalie didn't seem to care about the bath one way or the other, except she LOVED having her hair washed!  Who wouldn't love a head massage?

Natalie's stats at her one-week doctor appointment were 6 pounds, 14 ounces, 20.5 inches long, with a head circumference of 13.5 inches.  These stats put her in the 45th percentile for weight and the 95th (!) percentile for height.  Tall and skinny.

Natalie is an eating champ, because she gained 10 ounces in four days.  She was down to 6 pounds, 4 ounces on her third day of life, but once my milk came in, she gained and gained.  Way to go, Natalie!