No Use Crying Over Spilled Milk

Despite celebrating a meaningful first Father's Day on Sunday, this week was a bit bittersweet for me. I returned to work on Wednesday after a three-month maternity leave. I had been dreading leaving Shelby for weeks and it seemed like I cried every other day. Sunday night was really rough. I mourned not being able to feed her during the day. I mourned the loss of our morning walks. I even mourned not being able to monitor what every dirty diaper looks like. I wasn't worried about her, I was worried about me. Counting all the months I carried her around in my belly, I hadn't been away from Shelby in almost a year! That's some major separation anxiety!

The drive to work on Wednesday was hard. Really hard. I had never been apart from Shelby for more than a couple of hours. I thought eight hours would be agony. And the thought of having to pump instead of feed her bummed me out in a huge way. However, much to my amazement, the day flew by. And I made it to the next day. And the next. And now it's Friday and I made it through the first week.

Maybe the time has gone by quickly because I've been able to chat with other adults, and the topic of conversation always steers toward my sweet baby girl. Or maybe the days fly by because I have projects and work to focus on and take my mind of missing Shelby. Or maybe the hours go by quickly because I'm trying to navigate this new world of pumping and I've been forced to find humor in things like spilling an entire bottle of milk across my desk. Yes, that really happened this morning. And you know what? I had to laugh.

3 Months Old

Shelby turned three months old today and to celebrate she was rocking quite the bed head this morning. I've taken a picture like this - in the same chair with a home made sign - for every week and month she's been with us. It's fun to look back over them and see just how much she's changed in three short months. She looks like a totally different baby than when she was a week old.

Happy Father's Day

We had a great Father's Day weekend. We packed up the stroller and went to our neighborhood pool on Friday, Saturday and Sunday evening. Although Shelby isn't "swimming" yet, it's great to get her out of the house to enjoy some different sounds and sights. And it doesn't hurt that mom and dad get to eat a picnic dinner and take a quick dip in the pool! On Sunday, we had lunch at The Blue Ribbon Grill - one of Scott's favorites - and then went to the guitar store so he could buy more strings. Nothing fancy, but still a great weekend.

So Stinkin' Cute

A Wonderful Weekend

Shelby went on her first overnight trip this weekend and did great! We went to Blairsville for a night to attend a beautiful wedding in the North Georgia mountains and she was such a happy, chill baby! It was her longest car ride ever on the way up and back and she was a champ. She also slept great in her pack 'n play in the hotel room. We were worried Shelby would not sleep that well because she wasn't home in her crib, but she did great. We stayed at the reception until past her usual bedtime but she ended up going to bed late and "sleeping in" the next morning until 9:00! It made me excited for our trip later this summer and we spent the entire drive home dreaming about all of the places we will take her when she's older.

Two Month Checkup

Shelby's stats at almost 12 weeks old:

• Height: 23.5 inches (75th percentile)
• Weight: 12 pounds, 2 ounces (90th percentile)
• Head circumference: 39 centimeters (50-75th percentile)

Shelby had her two month well child check up this morning and she did great, despite getting four vaccine pricks in her chubby little thighs! It broke our hearts to see her cry like that, but she seemed to get over it pretty quickly. She is doing great - a healthy, happy, growing baby. We are so proud! It makes you feel great to hear from the pediatrician that you are doing a good job and that your baby is healthy. We are blessed and hope she stays on this great track.

It's a big weekend for this little girl: we are taking her on her first out of town trip tomorrow to celebrate a friend's wedding in Blairsville. It will be a good test run for when we take her on a big road trip this summer to Folly Beach and Wrightsville Beach. Let's hope she does great!

Bottle Boot Camp Continues

Here's Shelby and Scott with our neighbor Jen - mom extraordinaire to four - with her new baby Adam. She came over one night this week to help us with bottle training. Adam is five days older than Shelby and I am sure they will be great pals!

Shelby still has not been great at taking a bottle but even the pediatrician says that she will get it eventually and it might just take a day of bottle battle ... babies are too smart to starve! That doesn't sound too promising when you're the mom/food source, but I guess it has to be done and she will get the hang of it. I waited a while before even trying the bottle because I thought she might like it better and that it would "ruin" breast feeding ... ha! How naive I was! Now I would love for her to take just one feeding from a bottle! It would sure ease my nerves about going back to work or even just being able to leave her for a few hours to go to a movie. I have loved breast feeding and have found it to be an incredibly rewarding and bonding experience and I guess it is a bit of a confidence booster that she likes me so much!

A Cool Keepsake

Shelby is so important! Today she received a sign note of congratulations from the president! I read online a few months ago about how you could request a birth greeting from the White House so I sent off for one, but I did not think it would arrive this quickly. If you want a signed congratulations card from President and Mrs. Obama, send your baby's name, birthdate and address to: White House Greetings Office, Room 39, Washington, DC 20500 or read more here. What a fun keepsake for Shelby's baby book!

10 Weeks Old

Shelby is learning and growing more each day. As you can see above, she's perfected gripping the ring on her play gym and will spend a long time tugging at the toys and making all of them jingle. She's not reaching out and gripping the toys on her own yet, but I think she's making the connection. She is also "talking" a lot more lately. We have "conversations" all day long!

We had a great day at the pool yesterday for our Memorial Day cook out. I wasn't sure how Shelby was going to do, but she snoozed for three hours, right in the middle of all the noise and activity! I guess all the fun wore her out because she slept great last night - from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. and I didn't hear her wake up once! Shelby has been waking up some in the night and we can here her in there wiggling around. Once or twice we've gone in there and she has managed to scootch herself all the way around in her crib! You can tell she's getting stronger and more wiggly every day.