When all you think about is sleep...

Feeling Tired?

Cranky?

Or Just Plain Poopy?

Well, here is the secret to blissful uninterrupted sleep:

You start with one awake baby...

Then say the magic words...*

...and watch as she blissfully begins to nod off.*

No more rocking!  No more praying to the nap gods!*

Just a quiet sleep.*

*Results not typical.  Actual sleep times may vary.  Magic words can change at any given moment and may not work with any child as they do not actually exist. 

Sigh. 

Happy Birthday!

Isabel awoke this morning to every girl's nightmare on her birthday (she is 4 weeks old today)- acne and a receding hairline! The baby books soothed my panic by assuring that both were normal and that her skin would clear and her hair will grow back. Sigh of relief!

She appears to be changing every day! Today she began to grab at a toy hanging from her chair swing. She can't quite do it on her own, but once she has her little fingers around something, she has quite a grip as my scalp can attest to following a hair-pulling incident...my hair, not hers! She never fails to make me laugh, though. During a feeding this morning, she burped while still attached to me and ended up giving my boob a raspberry! I had to contain my laughter until we finished the feeding session as I did not want to dislodge her.

She occasionally gets fussy during feedings, so I have started trying a few things. First, I am repositioning her so she is sitting straighter- to prevent gas bubbles, which I think is the root of the problem. If that doesn't work, then I have to look at the bigger picture, which includes my diet...meaning the possibility of little to no cheese, milk, or yogurt! Changing her position seems to have helped so far, but we will have to wait and see if that is the solution.

We are waiting for Tim to get home to hopefully take some birthday pictures, which I will post as soon as I can :)

Where does the time go?

Isabel's extended family has left and the house is feeling very quiet. I find myself leaving the TV on just to have some background noise while I do things around the house. Tim's family was here for the past few days, which has proven to be very busy! Isabel has made her first trip to both Brazos Bend and Galveston, though honestly slept through most of it. All in all, she appears to enjoy meeting her relatives and being held by everybody.

With so much going on, it's a wonder she was able to get so many naps in...

I have noticed, though, that she is becoming quite the Daddy's Girl! Often when she is a little fussy, all it takes is some attention from Dad and all is right with the world again...

...and here are just a few more pics- just because they're cute!

Each day that goes by brings something new: Holding her head up, reaching for toys, taking naps in her crib like a big girl... She is just starting to actually interact with us a little, but we have such limited time between naps and feedings. She is not really a "crier" (I hope this doesn't jinx me!) but has started to throw mini-tantrums if her feeding sessions do not go according to her specifications. For instance, if she has trouble latching or if she falls asleep and stops nursing, she will awake howling at me! Her face goes from peach to red in the matter of milliseconds!

For naps and bedtime, she actually appears to have a favorite CD to listen to. She has two Cd's right now, but since they were such a success, we have ordered a few more! They are the Rock-a-bye Baby CD series that takes contemporary or classic rock music and makes them into lullabies. She has the two Beatles Cd's and really seems to prefer the second one. When I turn it on, she stops whatever vocalization she is making and will actually listen to it for a little bit!

Here are some pictures of Isabel in her Lion Swing and Bumpo seat... Enjoy!

Isabel enjoys time in her Lion Swing!

Fascinated by the ceiling fan...

She is just starting to show interest in toys.

The Bumpo seat is also encouraging her to sit up and supports her head and back,

but sometimes she would rather just be held...

First Bath Photos

NOT HAPPY!!!


Okay...not so bad...


Huh, kind of soothing...


Now I'm a duck?

A day of firsts...

Two days ago, Isabel's umbilical cord fell off, marking a milestone- her first real bath! Prior to this she had been receiving sponge baths, but we finally got to break in our "whale" baby tub on Sunday night. She seemed to enjoy this bath more than her sponge baths and I suspect that like her mom, she is going to be part fish. I can't wait for this summer and trips to the pool with her as I think she is really going to take to water. Tim took some pictures of the bath and will hopefully post them soon...he says maybe tomorrow or so.

Yesterday marked Isabel's 2 week birthday! To commemorate such a special day, what better way than to spend it at the doctor's office? I warned the nurse, before she removed Isabel's diaper, that Isabel has a wicked sense of humor and knows when she's naked and the furniture is unprotected. (I have done several loads of bath towels that had been soiled during the process of bathing her, but now have a strategy!) Regardless, she needed to be weighed sans diaper and the moment she was brought back into the exam room and laid on the table to have a new diaper put on, the floodgates opened yet again and then nurse went scampering for paper towels! The Dr's visit went well and the doctor was very impressed that Isabel is already lifting her head and looking around for extended periods of time! She also gained back her birth weight and then some- she is now 7lbs 14oz!

Yesterday also marked another first- her first bottle. Well, not really her first bottle as she received some formula while at the hospital because breastfeeding got off to a rocky start. But the doctor approved her to start receiving 1-2 bottles with breast milk a day providing I pump at that time to keep my supply up. Tim was very happy to volunteer for this job as the books say mom shouldn't give bottles at first due to possible confusion. I am not sure how true it is, but wasn't taking any chances. The bottle went well and she took it like a champ, even demanding an additional traditional feed about 15 minutes later.

That's the most recent update, but I have to say- Yesterday I was having one of those bonding moments with her. You know the ones- where you are looking into each other's eyes and she is almost smiling at you. It was sweet. Then she farted. Loudly. *sigh* I had to laugh. Even her farts are cute!

Our First Post

Isabel and I decided to begin this blog as a centralized way to keep in touch with our friends and family. With so many people being either anti-Facebook, anti-Twitter, or changing their email addresses frequently, we figured this would be a better way to keep in touch. I am hoping to update this as frequently as Isabel will allow...

On with the post:

Isabel is now one day away from being 2 weeks old! I can't believe it has been 2 weeks already. My mother friends have warned me that it would fly by and they were so right. The amazing part is that time does not fly by when she is fussy at 1AM. How is it that the clocks appear to actually move backwards at that hour? And as long as I am questioning the universe, how is it that she can sleep through TV, vacuuming, and walks, but the second I place her already sleeping form in the crib for a nap her eyes pop wide open and she is soooooo awake?

A few days ago, I felt like Supermom! I was changing her and was just about to remove the dirty diaper from ontop the clean one I had already placed when I heard the familiar sound of incoming disaster... I managed to pull the dirty diaper out in time to catch flying fecal matter in mid-air! How proud I was that my reaction time was faster than an erupting baby! If only the Supermom karma could last me through the next day's changing table challenge... She had what I now refer to as a "two-fer" which means "two for one" in that she pooped twice in a 30sec span. But not only did she have a two-fer, she peed at the same time as well. The planets aligned into what can only be referred to as a natural disaster of biblical proportions. Of course, the diaper was half-way off as I was in the middle of changing her. I valiantly tried to save the clean diaper underneath, but Noah's Flood had nothing on what was coming out of my baby's behind! Several wipes, a new changing pad, and a fresh set of clothes later, I could only laugh.