Saturday, March 24, 2012

3 months.

we took these a few days late on account of being sick on her official 3 month birthday.
i'm looking forward to the day when i don't spend the day constantly sucking boogers out of her nose.
nevertheless she's three months and gets more fun by the day!

3months

3monthfirsts

3monthloves

time is love, gotta run,
love to hang longer but i got someone who waits,
waits for me and right now she's where i need to be.

big decisions were made this month.
this song served as a perfect soundtrack.

Friday, March 23, 2012

sick.

we've been sick around these parts lately, in fact it seems as if things are just slowly starting to get back to normal.  we're no longer looking for inventive ways for the baby to sleep so that she can breathe and yet not roll over and suffocate herself.  
the whole thing started last saturday and since today's friday it's been one germ filled week for all of us.  i'm glad things are getting back to normal. we need to get out of the house, out of our bedroom, and we all need some more sleep. 
The only way the sick baby could sleep.
the only way she could sleep at night.

sunday and monday were the worst.  her fever never dropped below 100 those days even with tylenol and she could only sleep for 2 hours at a time, which meant i hardly got any sleep those nights.  we spent a lot of time in the bathroom with the shower running and never really left the bedroom where we had 2 humidifiers running.  both charlie and i just felt so bad for her.  there wasn't much we could do and she was just so uncomfortable. she spent most of those days whimpering and just wanting to be held.  so we did.  in fact the only time i put her down was at night to sleep.  

Sick kid nap.
nap.

but this morning she's feeling much better.  still pretty stuffy, but she slept pretty well last night and even played by herself a bit this morning and is now napping somewhere other than my arms.  as much as i love holding her it's nice to have a break to get a few things done with 2 hands.  the weather's supposed to be beautiful here today and since we've been cooped up inside this week we're heading to boulder to walk around and just be outside.  

Saturday, March 17, 2012

My new favorite.

i think this is my new favorite picture.  
the drool, the eyelashes, the chunky cheeks.  she's just so darn sweet. 

all the little things i don't want to forget...



despite the fact that everyone keeps telling me how tiny my baby is -  hello people, she comes from two pretty tiny parents, what did you expect? i can't help but think how BIG she's getting.  the other night during her evening 'i want nothing more than you to pace up and down the halls with me' session, charlie was walking with her and she fell asleep.  and really, is there any better time than when the screaming baby falls asleep?  i think not.  anyway, i was watching them and she just looked so grown up.  she was all floppy, one arm was dangling down, she was sockless, and one pants leg was hiked all the way up to her knee.  and she looked all big and sweet at the same time.  

my favorite thing would have to be nursing her, my second would have to be holding her when she's alseep, and my third would have to be watching charlie hold the sleeping baby.  

some of my favorite little things are when she yawns and sticks her tongue out at the same time, that big grin that i get first thing in the morning, her look of intense concentration when she's trying to figure something out, how she snuggles up to me in the middle of the night when she's eating, how she'll hold onto my shirt with one hand when she's eating, moving her top leg when she's eating, a big sigh when she's fed and perfectly content, how big her eyes get when she's somewhere new and trying to take it all in, her fatty fingers, chunky cheeks and thighs.  

and that's it for now.

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

spring!

spring is here.  at least for now.  we're going to have weather in the 70s this week!  although i'm sure we'll get slammed with another snowstorm before the month is over.  unlike folks in 'the south' i've learned not to celebrate spring until may in colorado.  we usually get some nice days thrown in march and april but it usually doesn't stop snowing until june.  so because we know this weather isn't going to stick around we've been spending as much time outside as we can.  

Actually using the bob for once.
we've been using the bob again.  she sleeeeps the whole time.


henry's back to rock climbing.


giving avery a big fat kiss.  she's not a fan.  yet.

Nice weather!
vitamin d makes us all happy.  even when we don't get much sleep.

Monday, March 12, 2012

the last day.

the last day before a gets dropped off at daycare.  sniff.  
to celebrate i ate 3 chocolate cupcakes that i baked because i was feeling sorry for myself, refused to put her down at all today just because i could, took a looong walk in this beautiful weather, took approximately 100 pictures of the kid.  seriously. and packed our bags for tomorrow.

my baby is growing up.  12 weeks tomorrow.  and man she is fun.

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baby toes.  is there anything cuter?

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yes. more baby toes.

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she still looks like a mini charlie. let the drooling begin.

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she's completely fascinated by her own hands.

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and henry's cute face.

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and the expensive giraffe.  love the chunky fingers.

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love you, baby girl.

Saturday, March 10, 2012

the cool things my daughter does now.

i think i say this every week but, wow i really feel like she's getting older!

some of her new 'tricks' are grabbing and holding onto things.  we introduced sophie last week more as something for her to play with than teethe on and she's getting really good at grabbing onto her legs.  she's also a pro at grabbing the rings on her toys that hang down, and grabbing my hands and putting them straight into her mouth.  charlie thinks she's going to be a rightie since she tends to use her right hand more on her activity mat. 

Rings!
2 at once! this was no accident.  she now reaches up and hits these or holds on with a purpose. 

considering this is the most overpriced giraffe she better get a lot of use out of it.

she also rubs her eyes when she's tired, which i think is pretty cute.  she hasn't been napping as well in her crib lately and the couch has been her new favorite napping spot. 

Passed out.


Boppy nap.
we've gotten a lot of use out of the boppy.

she's also gotten really into being upright and sitting up in the boppy is a place she can entertain herself for quite a while.


look at that belly!




Friday, March 9, 2012

last week at home.


i love the mornings when we go back to sleep after 6 am.

this is my last week at home with miss avery.  i may have cried while filling out paperwork for daycare.  wednesday was fabulous.  avery slept for a 7 hour stretch tuesday night! and then went back to sleep until 6 am and then even took a short nap after that.  it was raining outside, freezing rain which we almost never get, so we stayed in bed for another hour just napping.  i think every day should start with an extra hour of sleep.  

we went to look at more homes.  can this be over soon please?  we finally found a home that we both liked, in a good school district, which didn't need a lot of work.  and then we found out that it was under contract.  just 4 days after it had been listed.  so, we're back to looking at some older homes that need a little tlc.  we'll see.  

i cannot believe that i have to drop avery off at daycare on tuesday.  the other night i had a dream that i was dropping her off and then i couldn't sleep for the rest of the night.  every time i walk by the school it makes me sad.  and i walk by every day.  i get sad a lot.  i know she'll be fine, but i just don't want her to go.  i'm also stressed out about pumping at work and having enough milk for her during the days.  my goal was to make it to 1 year without supplementing formula and i'm worried about making that happen.  i know that a little formula would be fine, but this is something that i really do want.  both for me and for avery.  i was on a conference call the other day and my boss said 'we're so excited to have you back in the office' and i couldn't really say anything.  i know i should have said 'can't want to see you, too' but all i could think was 'it's the last place i want to be'.  maybe it would be easier if i liked my job or found it stimulating, but in all honesty my job is boring.  i spend a lot of time reading regulations, putting together powerpoints, and on conference calls.  and then i worry that a regulator will come to a facility and we'll be fined a couple hundred thousand dollars for something stupid.  




she's thinking, 'just keep walking, dad'.

avery's napping now and we're going to run some errands when she wakes up.  tonight is pizza night, which i started doing about a month ago because i cannot think of enough meals to cook for 7 days a week.  friday's used to be eat at a restaurant night but since our baby likes for us to pace up and down the house between the hours of 5 pm and 8 pm dinners out don't happen much any more.  to be honest, i don't really miss them.  




Tuesday, March 6, 2012


"comparison is the thief of joy."
-- theodore roosevelt. 



good one, teddy.  
sometimes i just need to stop and remember that i've got it pretty good.

Monday, March 5, 2012

life lately and a 10 week old baby ...

avery hit double digits (10 weeks) last tuesday.  despite the fact that she can't hold her head up, roll over, or sit up this makes her seem so old to me.  combine that with the fact that when i look at her now i don't see a newborn baby anymore and it makes me realize how fast the time is flying.  after getting her vaccines over a week ago sleep has not been nearly as consistent as it once was.  she's been up 3-4 times a night and her naps in her crib have shortened considerably.  the only time she took a solid 2 hour nap last week was when i was on a conference call (thank goodness for wonderful timing) but the rest of the days have been between 45 minutes to an hour in her crib.  on the plus side the weather has been warmer so we've been walking more and she'll nap the entire walk if she's in the ergo carrier.  i sort of regret buying that stroller since i pretty much never use it but i'm guessing once she gets heavier i'll use it a lot more.

A windy walk.
a very windy walk.

she's still the happiest in the morning and i have such a hard time getting out of bed on days that i work because i don't want to stop playing with her.  she knows that blowing bubbles will get us to laugh and she looks so funny when she does it.  she'll also blow them if you do.  that and smiling are her two favorite things.  the easiest way to get her to smile is just by smiling at her but she also loves when charlie 'eats her feet' or when you kiss her fat neck over and over or just make goofy faces.  she's a big fan of the 'fishy face'.

Cold day.
all bundled up running errands.  we're looking forward to summer.

she took her first bottle two days ago which was sort of bittersweet for me.  i knew we needed to make sure she'd take it so that she would be okay for daycare but right now i have such an emotional attachment to feeding her that it was sort of sad to see her take it.  i may have cried.  we actually tried first saturday night which was a disaster.  she refused the bottle and got pretty worked up about the whole thing before i just gave up an nursed her.  we tried again sunday morning and she was fine.  a little confused but fine.  and now i get to enter the time of trying to figure out how much milk i need to bring to daycare for her, how much to freeze per bag and the fun times of multiple washing pump parts and bottles every day.  to say that i'm thankful for my 2 days at home when i go back is an understatement.  

we've started a new nighttime routine which involves us in bed by 7:30 (yes, i know this is crazy early) but i read to her until she gets tired and then feed her and put her to bed.  she's liked this routine and has been a big fan of being read to instead of watching t.v. on the couch.  instead of a fussy baby i get a happy, smily baby and i don't feel guilty that we're spending time in front of the t.v..

Nighttime reading.
we're currently reading the long winter and i'm going to need to go to the library for the rest once we're finished this.

we've been using the boppy a lot to prop her up in during the day.  she seems to like to 'sit up' instead of laying down and it's perfect for when i need to get work done.  i've also heard it's really useful for when they start to sit up although we're pretty far away from that.  i've loved the boppy and still use it to feed her.  it's definitely an item that i would recommend.


hangin' out.


she is 100% charlie right here.

she's also gotten really into putting things into her mouth.  her favorite things right now are either her hands or my hands but we've also introduced sophie.  she's too small to really know what to do with it but it's one of the few toys she has that she can actually grab onto.  everything else is too big.  she grabbed a big handful of ollie the other night when the both were sitting on my lap and he looked back at her like 'what is going on'.  i have a feeling in a few short months he won't be sharing my lap with her anymore.


sophie.

in non-baby news we are officially staying in colorado.  although we'll definitely miss our families i'm relieved to have the whole decision behind us.  after two months it's time to move on and move forward in one direction or another.  we're back to house hunting (there is nothing fun about this) and are looking in fort collins where the taxes are low, the schools are good, and there's plenty of hiking, biking, running, and boating nearby.  

Sunday, March 4, 2012

weekend.

sunday am nap

oh, how i love the weekends.  i thought that being on maternity leave would make me love the weekends less, that it would sort of be like being on vacation where the days all run together but that hasn't been the case.  on the weekends charlie is off, i don't feel the need to wake up by 6 am (although we usually do anyway), and i don't feel the need to be hugely productive.  since i've been at home i've tried to get all of the house stuff, the cleaning, cooking, shopping, and laundry done during the week so that we have our weekends to relax.  however, i completely underestimated how hard it is to get all of those things done with a baby.  working around naps and feedings and my desire to hold her almost all of the time has made getting things done harder than i anticipated.  the moby wrap is helpful, but it's pretty hard to clean a bathroom with a baby tied to you.  

this weekend was the perfect mix of relaxing and productive.  we went to einstein for breakfast on saturday morning and then ran a few errands.  and it was the first time i found stores closed because we were actually out too early.  i have avery to thank for this new phase in life.  we came home and cleaned, took to the dogs for a walk and some ball playing even though it was really, really windy and after dinner charlie and i watched an entire movie in one sitting.  this is a milestone.  also avery only woke up once that night and after a week of waking up 4 times each night this was really nice. 

on sunday it was in the mid 50s, which meant our windows upstairs were open and it was still almost 80 degrees up there.  avery and i took a nap on our bed and it felt like spring although i think we've still got a long ways to go.  and now we're off for a walk ...