Five months old!

Five months old

Greta was 5 months old on June 17th.  Here is the update:

Greta is so much fun and so adorable.  Every new stage she gets into is our new favorite!

Eye update: still bright and blue.  Hair update: still light brown, but getting lighter (and longer!) every day.  Also, getting more wavy at the ends.

Eating:  still doing great - eating every 3-4 hours, 4-5 times per day.  Although, she has always been a wiggle monster while she eats.  She also grunts and groans and tries to crawl circles around me.

Sleeping:  Since she outgrew her little white bed (bassinet) and now sleeps in her big girl crib in her own room she now prefers to sleep on her stomach.  When you put her down to sleep on her back she instantly rolls to her tummy.  Sleeping at night continues to be fabulous - she sleeps from about 8 or 8:30 pm to 6:30 or 7 in the morning.  Sometimes she cries out in the night, but so far she is able to put herself back to sleep every time.  She stays awake for about 1.5 hrs in the morning and then goes down for her morning nap around 8:30 and sleeps for 2-3 hrs.  Still takes 3-4 cat naps (30-40 mins long) every couple of hours for the rest of the day.  Getting her to go to sleep at night without crying continues to be a struggle.  Some nights are better than others, but 15 or 20 minutes seems to be the norm.  However, she doesn't seem to have trouble going down for her morning nap most mornings.  We are trying to figure out what the difference is.  We haven't made her take other naps in her bed during the day on any kind of schedule.  When she is tired and we are home we usually rock her to sleep and then transfer her to her bed.  Otherwise, she just naps in the car, stroller, Ergo carrier, etc.  She has been taking a nap right around dinner time in her car seat, which is great for restaurants.  We just rock the car seat a little until she falls asleep and then we get to have a nice quiet dinner!

Greta had several firsts this month.  She tried drinking water from a sippy cup for the first time.  She didn't quite know what to do with it at first.  She mostly just loved to chew on the spout, which is soft rubber.  She also cut her first tooth!  Now she has two little teeth on the bottom and they are so cute.  That explains the exorbitant amount of drooling she has been doing lately!  Not really much complaining, though.  She is always content - apparently even when teething!

We took her swimming for the first time this month.  It took about 30-40 minutes to gather all of our stuff, get her in her suit and put sunscreen all over her, get our own suits and sunscreen on, drive to the pool, get all of our stuff out and lay out towels and finally get in the pool (and take pictures of course).  She didn't really seem to have much of a response to the water.  She just seemed content (like always).  We played in the water for about 15 minutes before we decided that was enough.  Then we got everyone out, dried everyone off, changed baby's diaper and put clothes on her, gathered our stuff, got back in the car, drove home, unloaded all of our stuff and gave baby a bath to wash off all of the sunscreen/chlorine.  It was fun, but a lot of work!  

In honor of her five month birthday we took her to Disney World.  (It wasn't really in honor of her five month birthday, of course.)  We took a trip to Disney World with K-ma and Doc and Tim and Kristin and their kids and the day we left happened to be the day Greta turned five months old!  She did great!  She was totally content to be pushed around in the stroller or ride in the Ergo carrier all day.  When she was tired she fell asleep and when she was hungry I fed her in the awesome baby care centers that Disney has at each park.  She was a total trooper.  We did 3 parks in 4 days and she was a perfect angel the whole time.



New likes:
Finding her sucker and putting it in her mouth by herself!  She mostly likes to chew on it, though.

New dislikes:
New people trying to hold her

Nicknames:  baby girl, missy face, silly goose, goose, goosey girl, goof-a-loof, goof

Four Months Old!

Four months old

I'm posting her four month update when Greta is now almost seven months old.  I started drafting this post when she was four months old, but somehow never got around to posting it.  Her five and six month updates have also been drafted, and I'm hoping to post them this week so there is a (small) chance her seven month update will be posted on time!  Posting blogs is not my forte.  

I can't tell you how much we love this girl.  She is an absolute joy to have in our lives!  Every day she gets cuter and more fun!

Hair and eye update: eyes are staying pretty blue and are absolutely gorgeous.  She gets comments on how pretty her eyes are whenever we are out.  Her hair is still light brown, longer and beginning to have a little wave at the ends (especially when it is wet... or sweaty).  She still gets LOTS of comments on her hair (since she was born).  She has rubbed off a small patch on the back of her head, as most babies her age do as they turn their head from side to side while they lie on their backs.  However, the rest of her hair is long enough that the bald spot is covered up by the mop on the top of her head, kind of like a comb over.  It's pretty hilarious.

Eating: still a great eater!  She eats every 3-4 hours, 4-5 times per day.

Sleeping: still sleeping great all night, from about 8 or 8:30pm to 6:30am.  She always wakes up so happy!  Since we have been sharing a room it is so fun to wake up to her making little gurgling noises at the back of her throat and Cody and I sometimes argue about who gets to go get her up.  

Cody snapped this picture one morning to try to capture the sheer joy on her face when she wakes up every morning.

Then she eats and has about an hour of awake time snuggling in my bed with me before taking a 2-3 hour nap.  I love this so much.  It is one of her happiest times of day and I will miss the snuggles when she outgrows this stage.  The rest of the day she takes cat naps every couple of hours for about 30-45 mins wherever she is (car, stroller, bjorn).  

Putting her to bed has become a struggle.  We developed a bedtime routine of story, swaddle, songs/rocking.  We were rocking and singing to her until she was out cold, then as soon as her little cheek touched the mattress, she would cry.  We would pick her up, rock and sing to her until she was totally out, put her in her bed and she would cry.  We were repeating this every night, taking turns, until it started to take longer and longer to get her to sleep.  It finally reached between one and two hours to get her to be asleep for the night, which exhausted and frustrated all of us.  This was happening right when Greta and I were scheduled to take a trip to Utah to visit the fam, and Cody was going to come meet us in Utah a week later.  I was dreading facing the bedtime routine alone for a week without Cody to take a turn.  I was telling my sisters about how bad it was when I got to Utah, so with their support I decided to let her cry it out to see how it went.  We started the first night I was there and she only cried solidly for about 6 minutes before she had a period of quiet that lasted about 2 minutes.  Then it was 6 more minutes of crying and... asleep!  The whole ordeal (although excruciating to have to listen to her cry) only lasted 15 minutes and I was sold.  The next night was much worse, but still took less time than the rocking method Cody and I had been trying.  She (and I) cried on and off for an hour, but never had more than about 5 minutes of solid crying.  We kept trying this for the whole trip and ultimately I think it was a success.  She seemed to need about 20 minutes in her bed, sometimes with a little crying, before she fell asleep.  We continued when we got home and had a few rough nights at the start.  So far, she hasn't gone to bed very often with no crying, but I still think it is better for all of us than the 2 hours of rocking, singing and crying.  When is the last time you had to sing for 2 hours, by the way?  I was surprised to learn that I know all of the lyrics to almost no songs.

She also outgrew the little white bed (bassinet) that she has been sleeping in next to my bed and is now in her big girl crib in her own room!  So now that room is finally being used for more than just a closet.

Check out those gorgeous eyes!  She's going to be a heart breaker.

Greta learned a lot this month.  She rolled over from her back to her tummy and then just a few minutes later, she rolled right back over onto her back!  K-ma was even there to witness!  She gets put in her bed on her back to sleep each night.  One morning when we went in her room she had wriggled out of her swaddle and flipped over onto her tummy.  I decided that it was too dangerous to swaddle her now that she can roll over in case she rolled onto her tummy and couldn't get back, so the swaddle is gone!

Greta also laughed for the first time this month.  There is nothing sweeter in the world than hearing this girl's laugh!  She is stingy with her laughs, though.  She doesn't just hand them out to anyone.  We have tried duplicating the exact thing that made her laugh in the first place and it hasn't worked.  She just looks at us like  she's thinking, "You guys look ridiculous".  

New likes:
Being more generous with smiles
Her toes
Putting her hands in her diaper area when you are trying to change her (not my favorite)
Toys!
Staying awake in the car, even if it's moving
Sucking on her first and middle fingers together
Grabbing my face when I sing to her and rock her before bed

New dislikes:
Going to sleep in her bed                                                                                    

Nicknames: baby, baby girl, little miss, girlie, Greta girl, silly goose and goose 

Stats:  Four months:  14 lbs 10 oz (70%), 24 inches long (30%), 42.3 cm head (90%)

Three months old!

Three months old

It feels like just yesterday I was posting her two month update ;). I can't believe this girls is three months old already! She is so much fun. She just gets cuter and more fun every day and I can't believe how fast she is learning and growing! So far her eyes are still blue and her hair is getting longer, thicker, and lighter.

She still eats like a champ, every 3-4 hours, 4-5 times per day. Her nights are fantastic! She goes to bed between 7:30 and 8:30 every night and sleeps until 7! LOVE that! She is learning to put herself to sleep in her bed, which is going pretty well. We read a story, swaddle her, rock her while singing a song or two until she gets drowsy and then put her in her bed awake and she can *usually* put herself to sleep. She likes her pacifier sometimes, and sometimes she doesn't so we try to use it as a last resort. Naps are a little different story. She usually takes a good nap in her bed in the morning from about 8:30 to 10:30 or 11 and then she can only stay awake for about 1.5-2 hours at a time all day. The rest of her naps are usually pretty short, between 30 and 60 minutes. It's been tricky because she loves to fall asleep in the car but once the car engine turns off, or sometimes just stops moving, she wakes up. Trying to keep her asleep so she gets a good nap has not been good for our gas mileage. Once she wakes up from falling asleep at all, whether it was for 5 minutes or 50 minutes, she will be awake for 1.5-2 hours until her next nap. We have tried to transfer her to her stroller, her bed, our bed, the bjorn, the swing, but to no avail.

Greta has learned so much this month! She found her hands (so fun to watch) and has loved to use them ever since. She puts them in her mouth constantly. She also grasps objects! It's so fun to see her grabbing her toys on her activity mat and bouncy chair instead of just looking at them and talking to them. She also learned to imitate some sounds that I make. Our conversations are a lot of fun.

She is the happiest baby, super smiley all the time! She is always in a good mood and so far lets anyone hold her and is pretty generous with the smiles (even though mom and dad get the most). She mostly smiles in response to other people smiling or mom being silly. She is also the wiggliest wiggle monster. She is constantly moving. Sometimes the only time we can tell that she is sleeping is because she isn't wiggling. Although, she even wiggles when she sleeps because the other night she wiggled herself all the way to the edge of her crib and smashed her face into the bars! Luckily, I saw that before we went to bed so I was able to move her.

New likes:

Minutes 5-10 of tummy time

Putting her hands in her mouth

Grabbing things

Pulling her sucker out of her mouth

Mom's patterned shirts - especially polka dots

Bumbo seat

New dislikes:

Sleeping when there are new things to look at

Trying to go to suck on a sucker when she keeps pulling it out of her mouth

Getting swaddled (but she likes to sleep swaddled)

Her current nicknames are baby, baby head, baby girl, lady girl, girlie, Greta girl, and silly goose. Although we mainly just call her baby girl (still), which is what we have called her ever since week 20 of pregnancy.

Two months old!

Two months old

Greta is actually 3 months old today, but I never posted her 2 month update (oops) so better late than never!

Greta continues to be an amazing baby. She is a great eater, sleeper and she hardly ever cries. She is sleeping even longer at night (from about 10pm to 7 or so - not bad!) and napping well throughout the day. She likes to sleep in the car, her bouncy seat, Bjorn, someone's arms, and most of all her swing. She sleeps the longest, as far as naps go, in her swing. She also likes to watch the little birds go around when she's not sleeping. The only time she ever cries in her swing is when she is hungry. We have started a bedtime routine that includes a story and it is so fun to see her start to be interested in the books. She loves to look at them. She has also started to be interested in the toys on her bouncy seat. She is getting better at holding her head up and controlling her arms and legs.

She still likes most things from last month.

Some new things she likes:

About 5 minutes of tummy time

The toys on her swing, bouncy seat and activity mat

The car, especially when it's moving

Stories

Smiling

New dislikes:

More than 5 minutes of tummy time

The car when it is not moving

Stats:

Two months: 12 lbs 13 oz (90%), 22 7/8 inches long (75%), 40 cm head (95%)

Greta's first month

We have been having so much fun with this little girl. She is an absolute dream. She is such a great baby. She sleeps well, eats well, and spends the time in between alert and happy. Her favorite place in the house is her changing table. We get the best "talking" and smiles there. She also loves to stare at, smile at and talk to our headboard. She finds it mesmerizing. She is sleeping about 8 hours each night right now and it is making her parents very happy.

She likes:

Changing table

Headboard

Swing

Bouncy seat

Baby Bjorn

Car seat

Her bed

Our bed

Activity mat

Being held by anyone

Being swaddled

Her sucker (pacifier)

Music

Someone to talk to

Bottle

Bath

Getting clothes and/or diaper changed

She dislikes:

Being hungry

Being tired

Being cold

So far she is very easy to please. She pretty much likes everything we have tried. If she is cranky, we know the problem is one of three things so it is usually pretty easy to figure out.

Stats:

Birth: 8 lbs 10 oz, 20 inches

Six days: 8 lbs 7 oz, 20 inches

Two weeks: 9 lbs 1 oz, 21 inches

New adventure

We started this blog to share our adventures as newlyweds in a new city. Now we have a brand new adventure: Greta Louise. This is the story of her birth.

Dear Greta,

It all started nine months ago. Even before you made your appearance into the world, we new you would be a great baby because I had a great pregnancy. I had no morning sickness, crazy hormonal mood swings, cravings, or other major side affects of pregnancy. Besides my growing belly and swollen ankles, I felt pretty great. Even when I felt tired or achy, I was so excited to meet you that I didn't mind it.

Just before we went to the hospital.

We wanted your birth to be calm and gentle so we took classes, read books, listened to cds, created a birth plan and a soothing birth playlist and even hired a doula to ensure that you would enter this world peacefully. K-ma and Doc flew to Austin on your due date to make sure that they would be here to greet you. I went on lots of walks, ate spicy food and drank raspberry leaf tea to try to coax you out, but your due date came and went and there were no signs that you were planning on arriving any time soon. Finally, my doctor said that she didn't want to let you go more than a week past due because there may be risk of infection and the placenta may start to break down, so we scheduled your induction. We wanted to try to bring you into the world naturally and without the use of any medical interventions, but more importantly, we wanted you to arrive safely. So we changed our plans just a little bit. Your dad and I got to the hospital at about 6:30am on Tuesday, January 17th (6 days after your due date) and the nurses got us all settled in.

Just after we got to the hospital. We were very excited!

After three tries, they finally found a vein they could use to hook me up to the IV and got me started on Pitocin. I could see the contractions coming regularly on the monitor, but couldn't feel anything and things were moving right along. This lasted for a couple of hours until my water broke and then the contractions got really intense. The doctor stopped by around 12:30 or so to check on me and asked one of the nurses to get the ultrasound machine. She took a look and discovered that you wouldn't be coming out on your own, you were breech (butt down) and she would need to perform a c-section. All this time we thought you were being stubborn, but really you were stuck and just needed some help getting out! Your dad and I were disappointed that all of our preparations to bring you here naturally, peacefully and gently were not going to be able to be put to use but we agreed to the c-section without hesitation, knowing that it was the safest way to get you here. All of a sudden the mood changed from peaceful and calm to emergency. They threw a jumpsuit, mask, booties and hat at your dad and told him to quick put them on so he could go into the operating room. The doctors and nurses were moving fast and tried to explain what was happening, but I was still having intense contractions every 2 minutes, and it was hard for me to pay close attention. They popped the wheels down on my bed and rolled me into the operating room to prep me for surgery. Your dad had to wait in the hall. He hated that part. When everything was all ready they let him in to sit right next to me. It only took a few minutes before we could hear the doctors and nurses saying things like "she's mooning us!" and " look at all that hair!" You were born January 17th at 1:41pm. We could hear your first cries and they let your dad over to the table where they were cleaning you up and checking all of your vitals. We were relieved to find out that you were healthy (8 lbs, 10 oz and 20 inches long).

Dad took some pictures to bring back to me so I could see your beautiful face. We were both thrilled and excited to finally have you here!

The last line of your birth plan read "These preferences entail our ideal birth. However, we completely understand the complex and unpredictable nature of birth and are open to changing course if need be." This turned out to be the theme of your birth!

Love,

Your parents!

Just a couple of minutes old.

Proud Mom.

Proud Dad.

Beautiful Greta.

Proud K-ma.

Proud Omie.

Going home outfit (newborn size, which is a little small already!).

All ready to go home.

Finally home, just the three of us!