Just a beautiful day in the neighborhood... :)

I have had the PURE JOY of staying home with Lucy this week since we are off from school for Thanksgiving Break!  I really almost stressed that we would get bored of each other, or that I wouldn't be able to get thigns done that I needed to, but she has been an absolute angel and we couldn't be having a better time! 

We usually sleep in until about 7 and we get up and change her diaper and play for a bit.  She's so sweet and snuggly in the mornings, it melts my heart!  Then, we fill up her empty belly and by about 9:30 she's wanting to go back down for a little rest.  I say little, because it doesn't last but about an hour.  I have been eating my breakfast and checking my computer stuff during this time.  Then when she's up and at 'em again, we eat again and play.  I found a Children's Radio station on Pandora the other day, so I'll turn it on (on our BluRay player) and we'll sing songs, read books and have lots of good tummy time.  This morning, she couldn't stop flipping over -- it was so funny! Now, almost everytime I put her on her tummy she would flip to her back.  We just have to work on flipping to our bellies now!  Daddy usually comes home for lunch around 11:30 and so she eats again, and sits and plays with him.  Then around 1:30 she's ready to nap again.  She usually takes a good, long afternoon nap.  So she and I pile up on my bed and take a good hour and a half -- two hour nap.  It's blissful!  She wakes up cranky because, well, her tummy's empty again, but after eating she's back to her sweet, sweet self and spends fun time on the floor until Daddy comes home! 

It's been fun spending these days with you, Lucy, and figuring out your "schedule," your likes and dislikes and watching you learn new things every day!  Mama loves you, sweet girl!

4 Months Old!!!

Lucy, you are FOUR months old!!!

At 4 months, you:

Weigh 13 lbs. 5 oz. and are probably about 23 1/2 inches long

You wear 3-6 month size clothes

And are just about to move up to size 2 diapers

You have figured out how to roll over from your tummy to your back and have almost figured out how to go from your back to your tummy!

LOVE your thumb!  Since finding it, you can now self-soothe yourself back to sleep during the night.

Because of your new-found ability to self-soothe with your thumb, you sleep about 10 hours straight each night -- bliss!

You go down for the night around 7:30 and are usually up around 6:15 the next morning

Have started reacting to us tickling you or blowing rasberries around your neck and belly

Smile all.the.time!

Will smile really big like you're laughing, but have only laughed out loud a couple of times. 

Love to look at yourself in the mirror -- you think you are so funny!  You just smile and smile at yourself, it's so precious!

Will follow your Daddy & I across the room if someone else is holding you -- so sweet!

Still sleep in your Snuggle Nest, but in the bassinet in our room

Still LOVE bathtime -- it is a time of pure relaxation for you!

Ahhh-Chooo!

The last couple of weeks have been quite interesting for our sweet babe.  About a week and a half ago, on a Friday night, we put our Lucy down for bed.  Chris & I went into the living room to watch some t.v. and heard our sweet doll-baby coughing over and over and over again.  I went and picked her up and rocked her against my chest and called Dr. Ivey.  While talking to him, she started coughing and he was able to hear a bark in her cough.  He said to let her sleep inclined and that he would call us in a steroid medicine to give her for the next 3 days starting the next morning.  This medicine would basically open up her larynx which had gotten swollen, making it easier for her to cough and not bark. 

Lucy takes medicine like a champ.  Thanks to one of my co-workers, Chelsea Williams, Lucy is able to take medicine through a teeny-tiny version of a baby bottle.  When she was really little and would have to give her Tylenol through a syringe, it would shoot right back out at us.  But with this, she sucks it right down without a second thought.  Ms. Jackie was so surprised when she saw how well Lucy took it for her Monday morning dose.  She said "I'm gonna let you give it to her, because those babies hate that medicine.  They spit every bit back out at me."

Well, Monday was the last day of taking that steroid medicine, and on Monday night we were woken up during the middle of the night to her coughing and sounding like she was gasping for air.  It scared me so bad!  She ended up being alright and we all went back to sleep.  However, the next day at daycare, Ms. Jackie mentioned to me that she had done the same thing two more times during the day.  So... I called the Doctor.  (Think they're sick of hearing from this "First Time Mom" yet?)

Dr. Ivey was not in the office on Tuesday and wouldn't be back until Wednesday afternoon.  So I opted to speak to Dr. Samper.  After explaining to him what the circumstances were, he requested that I bring her in "right away" making it sound urgent.  So, I left my class and quickly picked her up from her room and headed straight to the doctor's office.  When we finally got to see him, I began to tell him what had been happening.  And after just looking at her, he told me he thought she was fine.  Now, I'm not going to go into all of the details but basically what I was told at the visit was that it's normal for babies to gasp for air (no, it's not okay for MY baby to gasp for air), that cough medicine is stupid (is this real life?) and that she may or may not have Chlamydia (no, not the vaginal kind -- the bronchial kind -- google it. It's a for real thing apparently.) and that he can't prove or disprove that she has it so she may want to take an antibiotic just in case (Really?  You're a DOCTOR and you can't prove or disprove this? Wow.)  Oh, and he must have been in some leftover Halloween spirit, because he yelled "BOOOOOOOOOO!" at my already crying baby really loudly more than once.  Okay. 

Our sweet pharmacy, Rite Aid at the Milledgeville Mall is full of kind-hearted Pharmacists and Pharmacy Techs that genuinely care about each one of their customers.  They seem to always remember who you are and a bit about yourself, personally, so that they can better connect with you.  It really helps me to trust them better. So, I asked them when I picked up Lucy's medicine (which she may or may not need) what it was and what it was for.  They told me it was an antibiotic and asked if she had an infection.  I told them I had no clue, but they assured me I should still give her the medicine either way, because a.) it couldn't hurt her and b.) the antibiotic will only keep her from getting anything else or getting worse.  That was enough for me.  The Pharmacist also recommended that I get some Baby Vick's Vapor Rub to rub on her chest. Oh, and Lucy's sweet Big Daddy suggested we run a humidifier in her room.  Wow, our poor, sweet, baby was all set.  That night she slept inclined with Vick's Rub on her chest, and a humidifier blowing beside her and the wishy-washy medicine in her system.  She slept like a rock. 

Our contagiously smiling baby lost her smile for a few days and even slept for nearly 15 hours straight with only eating 4 oz. during that time. (Yes, this frightened me.  Dr. Ivey said it was fine as long as she was still producing 4-5 wet diapers.  That babies handled being sick one of two ways -- crying about it or sleeping it off.  She was choosing to sleep it off.  And that since her cough was so productive she didn't know to spit it out and so was just swallowing back down all of that mucus, therefore filling up her belly and not registering that she was "hungry."  She bounced back over the next 24 hours.  Oh, and the gasping was because she would cough and cough and cough without breathing in between, and so would just inhale very deeply and loudly to catch her breath.)

Now today, nearly a week later, our sweet baby is all better!  Her Daddy on the other hand, has gotten the same thing.  Lucky him can take a Z-Pack though. :)

3 Months Old!

Lucy, today you are THREE MONTHS OLD!!!

... and lucky you gets to spend this birthday at the beach!   

At three months, Lucy:

You weigh 12 lbs. 6 oz. and are 23 inches long!

You wear size 1 diapers and are in 0-3 month clothes (and are starting to wear 3-6 months, too!)

You had the week off from daycare this week because my Pre-K had Fall Break all week!  Yay!  So, we all went to the beach with your CiCi & Papa and Kacie, Wesley, Macie & Mollie.  You did so great on the way down there -- you slept most of the way until about 2 hours before we were supposed to get there, you asked for a diaper change and went back to sleep shortly after for the rest of the trip.  You really are an awesome baby -- especially in the car!  Your Daddy & I thank our lucky stars every day for such a complacent baby. 

You only spent time down on the beach two different times.  Each time, you napped on me for about 2 hours and then we went up to eat and hang out in the condo for the rest of the day.  You and I did a lot of just hanging out together in the condo -- that's okay, hanging out with you is one of my favorite things to do these days.  Afterall, you're one of my two very best friends! :)

We saw a big school of dolphins the second time we were down at the beach, so your Daddy & I picked up a little stuffed animal dolphin to commemorate your first beach trip just like we got your stuffed animal moose for your first trip to the mountains.

This month you have learned to love spending time on your playgym.  You will lay there for about 30 minutes a lot of times.  At the beginning of the month, you would just look at all of the toys, and then slowly started batting at the heart-shaped rattle, then you started noticing yourself in the little mirror that is attached and then finally were able to purposely pull the little bird to make him sing.  He will sing a different song each time you pull him and sometimes your Daddy & I hear you pull him over and over again, almost like you're trying to find the song you like most.  There are a couple of other toys on there, but you don't pay much attention to them and I don't blame you -- they're boring.

You are on a little schedule.  Not so much time-wise, but procedure-wise.  We practice the E.A.S.Y. method -- you EAT (4 oz.), ACTIVITY (usually your play gym for 30 minutes, playing with your Daddy & I, listening to us read, or just sitting with us as we watch our shows), SLEEP (about 1 1/2 hours at a time), YOU TIME (we try to lay you down so you're not sleeping on us and we can get some "us time").

You are exclusively formula-fed now.  You use the Nuk bottles and eat Similac formula.  You like it pretty warm and we just use warm water out of the faucet (Dr. Ivey said this was fine).  You're taking a good 4 oz. about every 2-3 hours.

You are a regular jet-setter!  You went on your first big vacation (somewhere other than to Newnan) to the mountains with Memaw, Big Daddy, Sara, Jason, Nathan, Sallie, & Kiki to Ellijay, GA.  The very next weekend, we went to the beach with your Daddy's family and the weekend after that, we went back to Newnan to try for your 3 month pictures (they didn't go very well).

You have definitely become more smiley -- and your little smile lights up my world!  You smile mostly when we make a "clicking" noise with our tongues or speak in really high voices.

You can fall asleep in seconds flat to your Daddy singing his own version of "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star."  I haven't yet figured out how you can find his singing so soothing. What I have figured out though is that he loves you with a huge chunk of his heart and you love him just as much.  It's so sweet to watch the two of you together.  You have your very own special games and songs and my heart just swells as I listen from the other room or watch from across the room to the two of you falling in love with each other.

We can't believe you're getting so big -- a whole quarter of your first year has flown by!  But with each new day, you learn something new and do something all the more sweeter than the day before and I can't wait to see what you do tomorrow.

We love you, Lucy!

Mommy Moments

Lucy, this weekend was your first "big trip" -- meaning somewhere other than the two-hour drive to Newnan.  We went to Ellijay, Georgia to spend time with my family and go to the Apple Festival.  The drive took us right around 5 hours (because of traffic and a bad sense of direction).  Your sweet self stayed awake probably 90% of that time and didn't cry once!  You were so great!  We got there and Memaw, Sara, Kiki, Nathan, & Sallie were already there.  Big Daddy & Jason came later that evening.  You and your Daddy were so tired though, you both fell asleep watching Toy Story with Nathan and then continued your sleeping spell back in bed.  You drooled on him so much it soaked through his sweatshirt, tshirt and onto his skin! :) 

The Apple Festival was an arts and crafts fair that Ellijay hosts every year.  It was the first time we've ever felt like we needed a stroller to carry you in, so we got the one that matches your carseat from Kacie & Wesley.  We couldn't quite figure out how it buckled, but you were more comfortable unbuckled anyways.  We just flapped up the feet part and you were safe and sound!  You stayed awake the entire morning and only cried once you got hot (the weather was warmer than we expected and dressed you for.  You look precious in your sweater dress, though!).  It was hard weaving in and out of the heavy crowds and so we didn't stay longer than about an hour.  We got back to the cabin, fed you and left you with everybody else while your Daddy & I went downtown for some "us" time. 

We went first to a store called Main Street Antiques (your Daddy's into antiquing these days).  We found lots of things we thought were neat, but finally settled on an old theater chair and a parking meter.  We went in a couple of other stores but didn't find anything that struck us.  Except for a little stuffed animal moose that I just had to have for you to commemorate your first trip to Ellijay (hopefully we'll be going back again!).  He has on a little shirt with a picture of a cabin and the words "Ellijay, GA" We call him your "Moosey" and you love to naw on him - poor guy!  We ate lunch at a place downtown called Canterberry and both had sandwiches and I also had a cup of Chicken & Wild Rice soup which was really delicious!

That evening, we played Dice with the family while your Daddy, Jason, & Big Daddy all listened to the ball game on the porch (there's no cable at the cabin).  Your Daddy and I dominated the game rolling over 1,000 points on almost every turn each! :)  You also tried your best that night (and for the first time to my knowledge) to turn over!  You were laying on your back on your playgym and lifted your legs up to your chest and turned them to your right side.  Since then, pulling your legs up to your chest is one of your favorite things to do -- as soon as I unzip your Sleep Sack in the morning, your legs go right up to your chest!  It's so cute!  You'll be turning over before too much longer... as soon as you can figure out how to get over your shoulder.

We left the next morning and it didn't take us quite as long this time with a better sense of direction, and less traffic!  You got hungry about halfway home and we couldn't get the car-adapter to the bottle warmer to work correctly, you didn't fuss to badly, but you definitely weren't happy. 

We've had to start giving you a bottle more lately.  I'm just not able to make enough to keep you full.  The doctor says I can take a pill 3x a day and it might jumpstart my milk supply, but there are side effects such as anxiety and drowsiness -- both of which I can't afford right now with teaching Pre-K.  It was a hard decision to decide to move you to primarily bottle and just nurse you when I'm able (& one your Daddy isn't totally on board with), but you are perfectly content with the bottle.  You don't refuse it, don't spit up your formula, and you're just becoming more of a big girl. 

I was totally at peace with this decision until the other night.  I woke up in tears thinking about how I had decided not to nurse you anymore.  And how neither of us knew the last time was the last time.  So, I woke you up at 1:30 in the morning and took you into the living room and nursed you.  You loved it, and so did I.  I cried silently as I sweetly talked to you about what you were doing and why we were doing it.   I thought to myself that this was one of those "Mommy Moments."  After I put you back to sleep, I laid in bed and thought of all the other Mommy Moments I've had with you.  You smiling at me your first morning of daycare and my first morning back to work; the way you'll just lay and stare at me on the bed; reading books to you; when you coo and I'll respond as if we're having a conversation as I change your diaper after we get home from daycare; the way you snuggle your face against my neck in the mornings when I wake you up; the first time you grabbed your playgym bird and made him sing; watching you try to turn over; and there will be many more to come!

...and while I thought that was the last time, I've still tried to nurse you at some feedings and then give you a bottle if you're still hungry.  I just hate giving it up.  It's something sweet and special between just you and I.  I know that you're becoming bigger though and the most important thing is that you get enough to eat so you can grow even bigger!

I can't wait to watch you grow, Lucy Pearl and experience many more "Mommy Moments" with you!

2 months old!!!

Miss Lucy, you are 2 MONTHS OLD!!!

You currently weigh 10 lbs. 2 oz. (23rd percentile) and are 21.5 inches long (15th percentile)!

You wear size 1 diapers (Pampers Swaddlers) and 0-3 month sized clothes (no more newborn -- tear!)

You're starting to sleep longer 3 hour stretches now.  In fact, you may be trying to work yourself onto a schedule.  You usually feed somewhere around 10-10:30 pm and are back up by 1-1:30 am and then again around 4-4:30 and then somewhere between 5:30-6:30 you're up for the morning.  I absolutely don't mind this at all.  In fact, when people ask how long you're sleeping and I say "about 3 hours" they usually roll their eyes and moan and say something along the lines of "Bless your heart, I am so sorry!"  But I tell them the honest truth, which is that I LOVE IT!!  I cherish this time with you and don't mind one million percent having to wake up with you because you're just so cuddly and sweet.  I know this time will pass too quickly and soon you won't be waking up to eat or to let me know you just want to cuddle with me (which I don't see a thing in the world wrong with -- if you want to sleep in your Mama's arms, I'll let you until I'm so old you have to let me sleep in yours!). 

You have grown so much this month!!  You aren't as tiny as you once were.  I can tell when I am feeding you that you are so much heavier and are not fitting in my arms quite as nicely.

You started daycare this month at Learning Safari.  Your teacher is Miss Jackie and there are 6 babies on roll, although only about 3 or 4 show up every day.  You love Miss Jackie!  She is the only one you will take a bottle from in there.  She says her trick is to rub your jaw and talk to you the whole time - :)  I sneak over once or twice during the day and peek in the window.  You have your own crib that has a mobile attached to it that I brought in from you that your Aunt Joyce gave you.  You get plenty of attention in there.  I definitely miss you during the day, but am never sad because I know you're in great hands.  In fact, the other day I was in there visiting and Miss Jackie was holding and talking to you and you were just smiling at her -- I teared up because it just confirmed for me that you are perfectly happy in there and feel safe with where you are.  I love that.

Speaking of smiling... YOU ARE!  I get the absolute most warming feeling in my heart each time I see those big cheeks of yours rise up and your eyes twinkle -- you have a beautiful smile, baby!  The first time I saw you smile with meaning (non-gas related) was the morning of your first day going to daycare.  You and I were in the living room rocking in the recliner.  I had already changed your diaper and gotten your outfit for the day on you and we were just enjoying some "us" time.  I was telling you about how your day was going to go and that I knew she was going to just love it and that although I wasn't going to be there "Mama does love you very, very much!"  About that time, you gave me FOUR smiles!  Each one bigger than the one before! :) :) :) :)  It made dropping you off at daycare not as hard, I just thought of those smiles all day.

This month hasn't been all smiles though...

You did get your first boo-boo! :(  Miss Kacie, the afternoon girl who keeps you at Learning Safari accidentally pinched your arm with the buckle as she was trying to strap you into the swing.  It  only left a little mark, but she said you screamed so loud!  Bless your heart! 

You've also gone to the doctor for the first time other than for a check-up.  I got worried a couple of weeks ago when your bowel movements turned to the consistency of water and were bright yellow.  You were ruining almost every outfit I sent you to daycare in and I was just worried that it was lasting over 24 hours, especially with a bug going around town.  Fortunately, Dr. Ivey said you were perfectly healthy and he apologized for having to charge us for having a healthy baby :)

You are currently fighting off your first cold, too.  Poor baby!  Just like an adult, you feel fine during the day but get congested at night.  Your nose keeps boogers in it, and your breathing can get really rattly sounding.  I have bought you some saline drops to use in your nose if we need to, but thankfully haven't had to yet.  You act perfectly fine and aren't running a fever.  I attribute the breastmilk to your obviously strong immune system!  You either caught it from your Daddy who had it last week or from the daycare.  Either way, you're going to be just fine!

Speaking of breastmilk, I AM STILL NURSING YOU! :)  I am so glad I didn't give up when I got so frustrated with it about a month ago when you were acting like it was hurting you so bad (I figured out you didn't like when I ate tomato-based products, so I've since cut them out -- something I hate, but something I'm willing to do for you!).  It's such a special thing between just the two of us and I love knowing that it's so healthy for you! :)  I pump at work and keep plenty in the freezer there for you, but they're also giving you at least one bottle of formula a day (Similac) just so that you can be used to that option too, in case we ever need to use it.

You celebrated "Grandparent's Day" by giving a sweet card to both sets of your grandparents that said "Happy Grandparent's Day -- Y'all are the best, hands down!  Love, Lucy"  with a tracing of your handprint. (This was very hard to do, as you still don't like your hands to be touched!) Since we were here in Milledgeville, you also got to give your CiCi some flowers.  Sweet girl!

You had your first "spend the night company" when Memaw & Big Daddy came to visit and brought Nathan with them.  Nathan had lots of fun riding your rocking horse and you handed out a few smiles.  You also got to go on your first public outing with your Memaw & I to Wal-Mart while your Big Daddy & Nathan went to Chick-fil-A to play on their playground and buy us some lunch.  Your Daddy had gone to Smiley's Flea Market with your Uncle Wesley for their "birthday outing."  While they were in Macon, he ate at his favorite S&S Cafeteria.

Speaking of your Daddy's birthday... we had his family birthday party at your CiCi & Papa's house.  Both of our families have a lot of September birthdays, especially your Daddy's.  His & Macie's are both September 15, your uncle Wesley's is September 16, Pop's is September 18, and MaMa's is September 19, so they all have one huge family birthday party together.  Since you weren't feeling very well with your cold, we didn't let anyone hold you other than me.  Your Daddy & Uncle Wesley ended up leaving their own party a little early so they could go to an auction -- they're really into buying antique items these days.

Miss Lucy (we also have officially nicknamed you "Goose" or "The Goose" as well as refer to your pacifiers (Soothies) as your "sweettarts" because sometimes you suck on them like they're as sweet as candy and other times you spit them out like they're just so tart!), your Daddy & I love you so much and absolutely adore having you in our lives! 

Happy 2 months, baby girl! :)

 

Nothing is worse...

Than having a cold.  Except for maybe a cold in WARM weather season.  And really, nothing is worse than having a cold in warm weather season and not being able to hold your baby.  Poor Chris.  He caught this cold that has been going around town and more particularly his family this weekend.  Macie & Mollie caught it first and still have it, then MaMa and Pop both got it, and Cindy & Smiley.  Now, Chris caught it too and he's trying so hard to not give it to Lucy or I.  He's spent the last two nights sleeping inclined in his recliner in the living room so that he can breathe better and to keep from breathing on Lucy at night and he's painfully watched me get to hold her and have her all to myself all weekend.  I think I can tell that Lucy misses him.  Or she's getting sick of it being just me.  Ha!

Lucy's just started being really drooly this weekend.  I mean, she SOAKED two outfits yesterday.  Dr. Google & I think that her digestive enzymes are kicking in which happens around 8 weeks (check!) which causes her to produce more saliva (check!) than she knows how to swallow so sometimes coughs because she's swallowing too much (check!) and can produce really runny dirty diapers because of how much saliva she is swallowing (check!).  Just call me Mom, MD.

I took Lucy into the doctor on Friday because I was afraid she was catching the virus that is also going around Milledgeville.  For 24 hours, her dirty diapers had been both bright yellow and the consistency of water.  More than the consistency or the color, what bothered me was that it had been 24 hours.  Thankfully, Dr. Ivey told me that the consistency and color of breastfed babies diapers can change and that he was unfortunately going to have to charge me for having a healthy baby!  We did find out that at 7 weeks and 4 days Miss Lucy weighed in at 9 lbs. 12 oz. and was 21 1/2 inches long -- big girl! :)

Today is also Grandparent's Day.  Lucy is so lucky to have 4 wonderful grandparents that love her so much and that she loves just as much! <3