4 Weeks Old

My baby is 4 weeks old already! Geepers!

Adelle is Growing!
She is incredibly adorable, I know I am biased, and I LOVE spending time with her. She likes to cuddle and be held. The only time this is not a great thing is at night when Brian and I are super tired. She will fall asleep in our arms and then 5 minutes after we put her in her crib she will start crying. That is annoying but we start the process all over again. What can you do?


She likes playing on her play mat. She is still figuring out what to do - with Mommy's help - but she will flail her arms and hit one of the toys. Then she looks shocked because she doesn't know what happened then she'll smile while I am saying, "good girl" in a sing-song voice and try to do it again. I think Friday she hit the toys a few times!!!


Speaking of smiling, she is doing it more often and we really don't think it has anything to do with gas - YAY! I just love, love, love her little smiles and can't wait until she starts to giggle! I wonder what it will sound like?


Adelle is also super curious about everything around her. She will hold her head up for extended periods of time looking around and tracking movement. No kidding! Brian was standing behind me, about 2 feet away from Adelle, and she was tracking him as he moved from one side to the other. She will also try to mimic the faces we make which is really adorable when she has a hard time figuring out how to make the face! :)

Yesterday was not only the day Addie turned 4 weeks old, it was the first day that Brian and I went out on a date - for longer than an hour - without her! Boy was that sad and scary and all I wanted to do was call to make sure things were going well and get home and scoop her up and love her! Brian's work had their holiday party yesterday, a Murder Mystery dinner, and we went while Sharon watched Adelle. It was strange having Sharon come over then tell her where the bottles, bath items, changes of clothes, and diapers are! IT was also strange telling her what Adelle likes and doesn't like, and if she starts to fuss, try this - she raised two kids of her own, she knows how to do it! But it was the first time I left my sweet girl with someone for more than an errand! It was hard, but we made it through the dinner and everyone asking how I was holding up. I am not sure when we'll do that again but it is nice to know that we have a plethora of skilled loved ones in our lives who are willing to look after her!

I wonder what new things she'll learn this week?!

Pictures of Our Beautiful Girl

I haven't been the best at posting pictures of our sweet girl, so here are some!

Grandma Dottie, Grandpa John, and Auntie Maria came over on the 17th (Grandma Dottie's birthday) to visit and watch the Viking's game. It was great! Grandpa John made stir fry - my favorite - and we had a good time talking and taking pictures of Addie.


I realize that I haven't posted many pictures of just Adelle, so here are few. Close-ups, sleeping, playing - just her!

Cravings?!

So I thought that once I had Adelle, the cravings would go away.

Well, they haven't.

In fact, I am now officially HAVING cravings! When I was pregnant food just sounded good. There wasn't really anything that I needed to have RIGHT NOW, ya know? But now, all I want is healthy food: salads, veggies, and fruit! This is fantastic and will help with losing the "Baby Weight," but green veggies, which happen to be my favorite, don't sit well with Adelle.

WTH?!

We have little gas drops for her since she is entirely fussy and arches her back when I eat these foods, but I don't want to have to give her the drops every time she eats. In fact, it's not every time she eats, it's just at night because I have salad at night. I wonder what would happen if I had something else for dinner? Last night I had a sub from Erbert's and Gerbert's and it happened - but it had lettuce, tomato and sprouts. I don't think it happened when I had lasagna, but I will have to test the theory out - oh darn, I have to eat lasagna! I heart sarcasm!

Has this happened to anyone else? Did/Does your baby have gas pain? What did you do?

Now, I understand that there are about 5 people who read this blog on a regular basis (yay me - again, I love sarcasm), but PLEASE respond with any suggestions or things to try. It's always helpful, even if you think it isn't or won't be!

3 Weeks Old

I can NOT believe that Adelle is already 3 weeks old! Time really flies by, and the days run together. I kept thinking that Sunday was Saturday. Oh well!

I got a call from Sharon, my mother-in-law, the other day asking how we all were and if Addie was doing anything new. I actually had to ponder that question! I mean, I am with her all day so I wasn't sure if what I was seeing was new, or if she had been doing it all along. It wasn't until Brian came home and we were getting her ready for bed that we noticed something remarkable. She was fussing in her room so I took her into our room to talk with Daddy. The entire journey from her room to ours she held her head up and was looking around - nothing new here, she has been doing that since we brought her home. But, what WAS new was that she continued to do that - AND turn her head from side to side - for at least 5 minutes. I have to believe that it was close to 15 minutes though because she was doing it the entire time we were in there WITHOUT putting her head down to rest!! While she was doing that, her eyes were wide open and she was quite alert so we kept talking to her and telling each other about our days. It was fantastic!

She enjoys the bouncy seat for brief periods of time now, which is nice because that means Mommy can take a shower while she is up if I need to! She still doesn't like her swing though. I've even tried putting her in it both ways (where it swings sideways or front to back).

We got a really AWESOME play mat/tummy time mat from Brian's co-workers and she loves it! We got it on Friday at a shower they threw for us and Adelle has been in it every day. We put her facing the toys, which she doesn't know how to play with yet but Mommy likes to play... er, show her how to use them. Then when I see that she is starting to get a little anxious, I put her face down for tummy time! She lasts about 5 minutes each way so that is good, and I try to put her in it two or three times a day. I'll have to get pictures of her in it tomorrow!

She has also smiled a bit but I think it's still the gas talking and not her actually smiling. I was able to get her to smile this morning just by being goofy with her and then again this afternoon, but not since then. I CAN'T WAIT until she is able to smile more!!

Alright, I think it's my turn to walk her around trying to get her to close those little eyes since she has been yawning for the past 15 minutes!! We'll see if that works!

2 Weeks Old

I can't believe it - my sweet girl is 2 weeks old! Already?! Where oh where has the time gone? Well, the time has gone to late night feedings and small cat naps when we can get them... THAT is where the time has gone! Would I change anything though - NOT A CHANCE!!

We went to see Dr. Y today for her check up and things were great! Addie is perfect! She has grown an inch since birth so she is now 21.5 inches long and she has gained 4 ounces since Monday so she now weighs 7lbs and 13.5ozs. Her head grew too! We asked Dr. Y about her spitting up, the way she gets so fidgety at times, and about her poo.

Yeah, her poo.

I am a new mom, what can I say? I worry about my little girl all the time! Is she sleeping enough? IS she sleeping too long? Is she eating enough? Is she supposed to stay awake? How long? But I was concerned about her poo. When we were in the hospital, when she was born, she didn't poo. At all. She had to be 'stimulated' in order to do that. Twice. Then, when we got home it took a little while and that made me worried. So when she started to do that on a regular basis, I freaked out when it changed. Who knew that I would be so concerned with poo!?

Anyway, we had a barrage of questions for the good doctor and he answered all of them. The spitting up is normal, we should keep her upright for about 15 minutes after she eats. She is fidgety because her nervous system isn't fully developed yet. And yes, her poo is normal.

Dr. Y said that he doesn't have to see her again until her 2 MONTH check up! YAY!! He also said that if we WANTED to come in for a 1 month check up (in two weeks) that we could. He then added with a smile, "I am assuming that I will be seeing you." Ah he knows me (my overly worried type) well.

I'll post more pictures soon - we have a lot!

Sigh, I am so in love!!!

Dad's first post

I figured it was about time that I actually said something on this blog as opposed to Teresa saying everything that goes on. This whole pregnancy/becoming a parent thing was pretty much a blur to me. When Teresa was pregnant, it was very surreal for me, that in 40 weeks I would be a Dad and would have a little baby to take care of.

That time flew by and even the 20 hours of labor went by quickly and now we have a little angel to take care of. It is a really wonderful feeling and challenging all in the same. For those of you that really know me, I'm a real "handle things as they go" type of person. Not much of a planner, list maker, organizer. So when all of these major things started happening I had to really step up and not worry just about myself but had to look out more for Teresa and now for Adelle. That has been the toughest adjustment for me. There are so many things that need to be followed up on, remembered, that even super organized Teresa can't handle all of it and I shouldn't expect her too.

I also knew we would encounter a "difficult" night eventually and we sure did last night. Adelle would NOT fall asleep until about 1:30am and then woke up a few times after that.

In the 11 days that Adelle has been in our lives its been wonderful. To see all of the changes Adelle's made in just that short amount of time is amazing! I can't wait for all of the other changes we are going to see in the future. I'm especially excited for the change when she consistently sleeps through the night! (even if "sleeping through the night" is considered 5 hours)

I truly couldn't ask for any more of a wonderful wife and daughter. Teresa has wanted me to become a better husband and friend each and every day and Adelle helps me to want to learn to be a great father.

First Sponge Bath At Home

We decided that it had been a while since Adelle had been bathed so we thought that Saturday was a great day for her first sponge bath at home. Grandma and Grandpa Volpe were there to help and help document the event too!


We started by getting all of her things together:
Adelle - check
tub - check


body wash - check
shampoo - check
towel - check
wash cloths - check


warm, not hot water - check
comb - check
clean diaper - check
cameras - check
tissues for Mommy - check


All in all, Adelle really liked the bath! She didn't cry a whole lot - just toward the end when she was getting cold - and I think it's because I was (trying) to go quickly and I was telling her what I was doing.

She smelled so wonderful after her bath yet kept that new baby smell too! Golly, I can't wait for her next one!!

Smiles

This morning, after I changed and fed our Sweet Pea, I engaged in some quiet play with her. To do this (according to On Becoming Baby Wise) we watched the little aquarium in her crib before having her nap.


While we were watching, I pointed out the different sea life as well as told stories of when I had been to the ocean. I don't have many stories because we were on our honeymoon in San Diego (December 2007) and the water was SUPER cold. I digress....


While I was talking to Adelle she smiled! I know there is an explaination for it like, "It's gas," or "She's in her dream state right now," but I don't even care! Look at how beautiful she is! I mean, even more beautiful than she already is!!


Oh my goodness, I love her!