Abby: Week 19 Sleep....what's sleep?

Week 19

Feeling this week like I've got a newborn again.....walking into walls I'm so tired.  Miss Pants is going through a phase right now.  A phase of "Mommy is never going to sleep again".  OK, that was probably a little dramatic, but when you are this tired, it seems like the truth.  Miss Pants' schedule has been all over the place this week with her naps at school and when she is eating so by the time she gets home we never know what to expect.  Every night has been different, but for most of them, the one thing that has remained constant is her lack of sleeping through the night. 

I remember when she was about two months old and she slept throught he night for a couple nights in a row and I thought "this is amazing!  My baby is sleeping through the night already, I'm the luckiest parent in the world!"  Well that was short lived.  Little Miss has been falling asleep for a little nap before bedtime.  She gets up to eat before bed, but is so tired that she doesn't eat until she's full, she eats until she falls back asleep.  She gets put to bed, but then two hours later her tummy wakes her up because she is hungry so I feed her.  And again, she doesn't eat until she is full because again, she is so sleepy.  This cycle seems to continue until Mommy has to get up and get ready for work.  No beuno little girl.  We are not ready to start cerel or solids, but we are trying to make sure she gets a good meal before bed.  When she actually drinks well, she sleeps!  Imagine that.  At least two nights this week she ate good and slept from 8:30 until 3:30.  I'll take it!  Mommy can't wait for this phase to pass.  I'm sure though as this one passes another will be soon to follow throwing Mommy for a loop all over again. 

Mommy, Daddy and Abby had a little adventure this week!  We went to Food Truck Ally on Thursday night to check it out.  We saw our friends Doug, Missy and Brayden there.  We walked all around, checking out the trucks, getting some good food and listening to the music.  Abby even got to dance with Daddy for a bit. :)  It was a good time and something new and fun to do. 

On Saturday Abby's school had a Halloween party so we decided to go to that. Abby loved seeing her teachers even on a Saturday!  She got to dress up in her fairy princess costume and show it off at school.  She got to see some horses and we did some crafts!!

Mommy's little fairy princess!

I love Ms. Mary!!

On Sunday we went to the Berry Farm Pumpkin Patch!!  Abby got to see more animals, go on a hayride and picked out her very own pumpkin!  We had lots of fun together as a family!! It was a great weekend!!

Some fun play time with Mommy!!  This was a great weekend!  I hope we have lots more just like it!

Standing up like a big girl

Playing with my toes is one of my favorite things to do lately

Reaching for my toys

 Willow lets me pet him all the time now.  I think he really loves me!

4 Months The Numbers Are In!

Little Miss is growing up fast! She had her 4 month wellness checkup and the numbers are in!!! She now weighs 14.5 lbs, measures 25 inches long and is finally closer to the average 4 month old percentages. She is tall for her age, but still the doctors say she looks great and "keep doing what you are doing". So we will. We'll keep loving her everyday and playing with her and showing her new things. This has been the most amazing life change ever and I couldn't imagine my life any other way. 

Looking back on the photos from when Abby was first born it's now I realize how little and cute she was.  She's obviously still adorable (I'm Mommy, of course I'm going to say she's adorable), but it just reminds me of how small she was.  She is amazing.  Her growth and development amazing me everyday.  I am LOVING the interactions at this age.  Her expressions, her laughter, conversations galore!  It's been an amazing 4 months, but it seems like its been so much longer.  I've heard the expression that you can't imagine your life without your kids and its kinda true.  I remember what Nick and I used to do pre-kid, but now I'm so much happier doing the things we do now that we have Abby.  I don't miss too much of our old activities because there is just so much joy in doing new things with Abby. 

Happy 4 Months baby girl!!!  Mommy loves you!

Abby: Week 18 Mommy's Birthday

Week 18

 

This week marked Mommy's 32nd birthday!  Ms. Abby Pants and Daddy made Mommy a great birthday gift.  I was surprised with a shadow box that had all of her things from the hospital (her bracelet, hat, mittens, footprints) and a picture of Mommy holding Abby for the first time.  It was absolutely perfect!  However, for a little girl who is never really fussy, she picked the one night Mommy would have loved to snuggle, or go to bed early or just have some quiet time to be fussier than ever.  Soooo......the birthday celebration was short lived.  4 month olds apparently don't care if it's your birthday.  Daddy tried to apologize for not having a good birthday, but I had to explain that it was good.  It's not going to be like it was, we are not number one anymore, Abby is and I'm OK with that.  If I wasn't, I shouldn't have become a parent.  :)  Besides, by the morning she was back to big smiles and laughter again so it was all good.

 Mommy and Abby on Mommy's Birthday!

Mommy's Birthday present! <3

Not a whole lot to report for weekend activites since Mommy spend most of the weekend working from home.  It was a little unfortunate that I didn't get to spend a lot of time with Ms. Abby, but she got in a LOT of Daddy time which was great.  They did a lot of playing on the floor and working on rolling over.  She is getting pretty good at trying.  She is also getting so much better at reaching out for things.  Her hand-eye coordination is improving each day. 

She is still eating 3-4 5oz bottles at school each day.  All her teachers keep telling us how much fun she is and how she is a good girl.  It's great to hear.  I'm so glad she is such a happy baby.  I hope it continues.  She is quite the talker too.  She loves to babble on and have "conversation" with Mommy and Daddy.  She really is the most fun to hang out with.  We feel so lucky to have such a great little baby girl!!!

Big girl holding her own bottle

 Milk drunk after dinner....

 Play time with Daddy in my saucer

 Daddy and I having fun!

NE girl at heart!

GO PATS!

 Happiest little girl ever!!

Abby: Week 17

Week 17

My baby girl is getting big! She is a little piggy. This week she has really started to show her growth.
She has moved on to the faster flow nipples for her bottles and she is eating more at each feeding. Her
school had to give us the tip that we could start sending more food b/c she was getting mad when her
bottle was finished and she still wasn't  full. She’s now up to 5 oz bottles three to four times a day. I’m
hoping that is not too much. I've read that bigger babies eat more anyway, but I want to make sure she
stays healthy and doesn't over eat. Piggy Piggy!! Her 4 month check up is next week so I’ll have to see what the doctor says.

Speaking of her eating….Mommy is feeling depressed lately. I’ve been pretty successful in feeding her
almost entirely breast milk since she was born, but with this increase in appetite, Mommy can’t quite
keep up enough in the milk producing department. I thought that I would just continue to make more
and more milk as she drank more, but I guess I don’t work that way. I’m not sure if it’s normal or what,
but the idea of not being able to feed her only breast milk and having to now start supplementing
formula is weighing a little on me. I almost feel like I’m doing something wrong. Aren't there Mommies
out there that breast feed their kids until they are a year old or something? How do they do it?

Side note, we have to fix Miss Monkey’s head. Miss Monkey has almost become decapitated so
Mommy needs to sew her back together. Excessive chewing has caused the stitching to let loose.

Miss Monkey all fixed!

We had a community yard sale on Saturday and Abby got to spend pretty much half the day
outside getting some fresh air! I think she like saying hi to all the people that came by. She sat in our
laps, played in her highchair just inside the garage to keep in the shade and the big event was seeing
the fire truck!! About halfway through the sale a big fire truck drove by and they waved at Abby. They parked the truck just down from our house so Abby, Mommy and Daddy went to go
check it out! As we were looking at the truck, one of the firemen came over to say hi and show Abby
the truck. He opened the driver’s side door and let her sit in the driver’s seat! Of course Mommy and
Daddy had to let this be the ONE time we have ever left our phones back at the house so we didn’t
get a picture. Boo..:( It’s ok. We plan on continuing our Christmas tradition of making cookies for the
firemen on Christmas day and delivering them so I’m sure we can get some pictures then.  However,
Abby did get a sweet fire hat!! Mommy was so proud. As soon as we got back to the house Mommy
had Daddy take a picture do we could send it to Grandpa! He’d be proud of his little granddaughter
with her first fire hat. Mommy is thinking we might need to take a trip to Grandpa’s fire house when we
head back to Maine next month.

Hanging out with Mommy at the yard sale

My sweet fireman's hat!!

Keeping our of the sun during the yard sale

The weekend was full of fun playing with Mommy and Daddy. Abby is really starting to get good at reaching out for objects and grasping them. Then they promptly go into her mouth. She is still drooling like crazy. We are just waiting for a tooth to start pushing through. Knowing Mommy’s luck, it’s going to start happening just as we are coming home on the plane. I can see it now, screaming baby for three hours stuck on a plane with no place to go and everybody hating you….sigh…(can you tell Mommy is getting anxious about the flight home?)
Abby is also still working on that whole rolling over thing. She likes to get up onto her side and then
just sit there and talk to you. She can do it with a little help. She’s getting the hang of throwing her leg
over, but it’s still the shoulders that get in the way. She’ll get it when she is ready. In the meantime
she is talking up a storm. She love to have “conversations” with Mommy and Daddy in the afternoons.
She tells us all about her day. Mommy did a little experiment this week and recorded Abby talking to
her picture on Mommy’s phone. Abby loves to giggle and yell at the baby in the mirror. We stand in
Mommy and Daddy’s bathroom with the big mirrors and she just loves smiling, laughing and “talking” to
the baby. It’s fun to watch her. I’m excited for the day she realizes that it herself she is seeing.
Developmentally she is doing well. She seems to be right on track with where she “should” be. I’m
more concerned with playing with her, loving her and just spending time with her. I figure she’ll reach
these milestones when she is ready. Until then, Mommy and Daddy will just continue to give her the
environment to learn, grown and have fun.

Just call me Mozart! 

Sporting my new Pats jersey!