A Busy Week

Shelby makes the funniest, cutest face when she's over her dad's shoulder. Just look at those funny eyebrows! We had a great week this week. My mom came to visit and was a huge help. She cooked us some great home cooked food, cleaned the house, came with us to new mom group, and played with the baby. She even tried to help with bottle feeding, but Shelby was still a stubborn little girl! This weekend, we are looking forward to our Memorial Day picnic at the pool and spending lots of time with Scott, who is off for four days.

It seemed like Shelby made some great strides in development this week. She is still full of smiles and we think she is trying to laugh! She has also started cooing and "talking" a lot more and is content to just sit in her swing or lay on her play mat and "play" for longer than just a few minutes. We have also heard her wake up once or twice at night, coo and then go back to sleep. She didn't cry! Crossing our fingers this is a continuing trend. We might try to start inching her bedtime earlier but I am not sure her stomach is big enough to stretch her sleep longer than 6-8 hours. But the 6-8 hours we are getting now is good enough for us!

We also created a photo gallery for her third month. Check it out at the top of the page or click here.

Two Months Old

Just look at this girl... I love her so much. The past two months have flown by so fast. I can't believe it. I know all parents talk about how fast the time goes by, but you can't really experience it for yourself until you become a parent, too. Shelby has transformed from a tiny little newborn into an alert, curious baby and she seems to do something new every day. We're having so much fun with her and I just want to stare at her all day. Wait... I do stare at her all day!

8 Weeks Old

I can't believe Shelby turned 8 weeks old this week. Where has the time gone? She gets more and more enjoyable every day and I am so sad that I only have a little over a month left with her before my maternity leave ends. I love spending the days with her! Here are some recent milestones:

• Sleep!!! Before I was pregnant, I had no idea baby sleep was such an important thing. It's almost as important as feeding! Shelby has recently started sleeping GREAT at night and I hope she keeps it up. Last night was her best night ever - she slept from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. and we have not "trained" her or used any sort of "cry it out" methods. We just do the exact same thing at the exact same time every day: dim lights, feeding, Beatles lullaby music, swaddle and rock for 5-10 minutes. It seems to be working and she goes a little bit longer each week as her stomach gets bigger and can hold more food. Her daytime sleep is a little more disorganized - she seems to have sleepy days and awake days.
• Holding her head up. Shelby's neck muscles are getting stronger every day! Tummy time doesn't last for very long, but she loves to hold her head up when we hold her over our shoulder or on our chest.
• Smiles! Scott is able to coax great smiles out of Shelby and we think she has even started to laugh some, too! We can tell she is becoming more aware of her surroundings and can respond to faces and voices.
• Introducing a bottle. OK, this is not going so great, but we will keep at it and keep trying a little bit every day.
• Soothing methods. We discovered a new super soothing hold (thanks Glee!) We call it "monkey on a branch" and we sort of hold her tummy and head with her legs and arms dangling down. She loves it and even fell asleep like that today when I was holding her.

Bottle Shock

I am listening to my daughter scream while Scott attempts to introduce a bottle for the first time. Any advice on how to make this work? Because this sucks.

Happy Mother's Day!

Double Digits

Shelby broke through 10 pounds this week! She weighed 10 pounds and 1 ounce on Thursday!

Shelby's First Six Weeks

One Month Checkup

Peek a boo! Here is Shelby looking over daddy's shoulder at the doctor's office today at her one month check up. He was keeping her warm while we waited in the exam room. She had to strip down to her diaper to be weighed and examined and it was cold in there!

Shelby is six weeks old today and she's a perfect healthy girl. She now weighs 9 pounds and 13 ounces and is 21 and 1/4 inches long. Her head circumference is 36.5 centimeters. She is in the 50th percentile for height and head circumference and in the 75th percentile for weight (which the doctor said is great for an exclusively breast fed baby). The doctor also commented on how "perfectly proportioned" her body was and how bright eyed and alert she was! We are so proud of her! She even got a vaccine shot in her thigh and only screamed for a minute or two.

Shelby also had what seemed like a transformation in personality today. She was awake for much longer stretches of time and so much more alert. She was content to just stare at us (and maybe smile?), look around and take in her surroundings and not just eat, sleep and mildly fuss. I don't know how to describe it, but she acted more like a baby today and no so much like a sleepy newborn!

She has also been sleeping great at night and seems to be developing her own little schedule. We feed her and put her down by around 10:00 and she sleeps until around 2:30 or 3:00. We feed her again and then she sleeps for another three hours. Five hours of sleep in one stretch feels like an eternity after you've been getting up every three hours! Dare I say it... do I feel rested?

She has also been eating great although in the past week she's been fussy at the breast a couple of times per day. I talked to both the doctor and a lactation specialist and they say it's a common phase that babies go through and could be attributed to a number of factors, including a growth spurt or temporary supply/demand/milk flow issue. They said it will pass, but it's so frustrating when it happens! As long as she is eating, gaining and pooping well, then it's nothing to get too upset about and we will just have to ride it out.

Whenever I encounter a mild setback like this or get sad because she's fussing or something, I just look at the big picture and remind myself how truly blessed we are. Shelby really is a good baby. She's healthy and perfect and we could not ask for anything more. We love her more and more each day and can't believe how lucky we are to have her.

Shelby's First Kentucky Derby