9 Week Update - 2 Months

9 Week Picture

Its amazing how much fun a 9 week old can really be.  Shane and I are enjoying every second of it.  Addison loves giggle time with mommy and daddy.  Usually we will prop her up on a pillow and face her.  All we have to do is make faces and talk to her and she gets the greatest kick out of it!  She will open her mouth really big like she's trying to talk and then let out a HUGE smile... and her little legs will kick nonstop in excitement.  I will try to get a video of her on here in the next week or so.

Milestones:

The POO and PEE of it all:  Everyone tells you that you'll go through diapers like Obama goes through money, but you're never really prepared for how many you actually go through.  Currently, we are burning through about 80-100 per week.  Some days are much heavier than others, but it seems like every time we turn around, we're having to add diapers to the Wal-Mart list. PHEW!

Sleeping:  My cousin gave me a book called "the sleep solution".  The writer claims to be able to train your baby to sleep 12 hours a night.  Shane and I have decided to give it a whirl despite Addie's already great sleep schedule (6-9 hrs per night broken up by only one feeding).  We just started step one this week, which is, get baby to eat 6 oz. every 4 hours during the day without "snacks" in between.  Before this week, she was eating about 4-4.5oz. at each feeding in addition to several "snacks" in the afternoon.  So far this week, the most she has eaten in one sitting is 5.25oz and she doesn't quite seem ready to break the snacking in the late afternoons.  It's a work in progress, but we'll keep you posted as to how it's working.

Growing:  Addison has outgrown so many of her clothes!  In the beginning, we had more clothes than we knew what to do with.  Every week though, we have to "retire" several outfits that don't fit anymore.  Also... someone needs to SLAP the clothes manufacturers!  We've got 6 month outfits that are the same size as the newborn clothes!  I've seen "0-3mo." outfits that would fit a potato and "0-3mo." outfits that would fit a toddler!  What's the deal???

More Pictures from week 9:

8 Week Update - Nana Visiting

8 Week Picture

Can't believe she's TWO MONTHS OLD!!   Not too much has happened in the last week.  Nana (Kristin's mom) came to visit for a few days as well as cousins Blake and Avryl.  It's cute seeing our nieces and nephews interact with Addison.  Avryl likes to tickle her feet to see how she'll react.  Addie doesn't seem to mind and usually just kicks in response.

This weekend will be the 4th of July.  Usually we celebrate with family/friends but we're going to have a pretty low key holiday this year.  Addie is still too little to enjoy the fireworks, so we decided to just cook out and watch them from the dock or the house.

Here are a few more pictures from week 8

7 Week Update - Pushups

7 Week Picture

This week, the weather has been insanely hot and humid (heat index of over 100 degrees) so mommy and Addison didn't leave the house even once!  The heat seems to be fading for the weekend though, so we'll be out and about for sure!

It seems like every day we learn something new about being parents.  One thing we've been perfecting lately is bath time.  We have a routine 9pm bath every night for Addison.  The routine has actually helped keep eating and sleeping patterns pretty consistent.  It used to take over 20 minutes and a pretty cranky baby, but now, Addison seems to enjoy bath time and it only takes about 10 minutes.  The process is definitely much smoother now than it was 5 weeks ago!

Milestones:


Eating - Addison now eats about 4oz. at each feeding, but occasionally will scarf down 6 or 7oz's!!  I'm not sure where she puts it all... maybe that's what's hiding in the folds of her neck!

Sleeping - For a while, Addison started waking up about every three hours at night.  Generally, she would just wake up to poo or pee and then go back to sleep.  For the last week or so though, she has slept 5 hours straight every night.  After she's fed and changed, she goes pretty much right back to sleep.  It's nice!

Push-Ups - Addison has been lifting her head while on her belly since week two.  The first time she pushed her chest off the ground was around week four.  It was only for a split second, but really impressive!  Now she does it every time we put her on her belly.  Sometimes she'll push with her forearms and other times with her fists down.  What a strong little girl!

Other pictures from Week 7

Too cute!!

Time to change the stinkies!!

Addie passed out while burping her and then would

not let go of the burp rag!!

Take me out to the ball game!!

Addison's first baseball game was a great time.  Despite the 90 degree weather, she did great.  Our seats were first row of the outfield bleachers.  When the first home run was hit and the fireworks went off, she kept sucking back the bottle and the noise didn't phase her a bit!  She's a true Cardinals Fan for sure!!
Before the game, we were walking around inside the stadium and we saw Fredbird (the Cardinals mascot) walking around.  We caught up to him and asked if we could take a few pictures.  We couldn't believe it but he wanted to hold her!  It was so cute, and when the pictures were over... he didn't want to let her go!

Here are some pics from the game.

6 Week Update - Rolling Over

6 Week Picture

Last week Addison went on her first road-trip... well this week she will have another big first.  Addie will stay in a hotel for the first time and attend her first ever St. Louis Cardinals Baseball game!!  We're really excited about the game tonight.  It's going to be a pretty warm night, so hopefully Addison (and mommy) can endure the heat.  We will definitely post pictures of the game on here when we get back home.

Milestones:

Schedule Eating/Sleeping: These two go pretty much hand in hand.  Addison has been pretty consistent with her sleeping and eating schedule in the last week.  She sleeps 5-6 hours every night and seems to have developed patterns in her eating. 

Rolling Over: Addie seems to have quite a bit of control of her movements.  Several times, she has rolled from her back to her side or onto her belly.  Just the other night, Shane said she was face down on his chest and she rolled onto her back.  She's a strong little one!!

Stretching: It's adorable when Addison first wakes up because she stretches, and stretches, and STRETCHES!  It seems like she can take a good 5-10 minutes just wiggling and extending her legs and arms as far as possible, then she'll pull them in and start all over again.  I usually change her diaper when she first wakes up and it can be quite challenging because of this routine!!

Focusing: Shane and I have noticed that Addie is more focused on objects and people lately.  We notice it even more when we're talking to her or playing with her.  The other day, she followed me around the room with her eyes while she was propped up on the bed.  It's such a rewarding feeling that she's recognizing us now! 

A few more pictures from week 6

Mommy ventured out and put pink on her! :)

Addison's first stay in a hotel room!!

Laughing and smiling at Mommy

Watching the Cardinals Game on TV with Daddy

5 Week Update - One Month Checkup

5 Week Picture

We had our one month well-baby checkup on Wednesday.  Addison weighs 10.5lbs now and is 22in long!   Her weight and height put her in the 80th percentile and the pediatrician says everything looks great.  Things we addressed with the Doctor:
-  Straining to poo.... Dr. Neill says that infants often are still figuring out their muscles and struggle to get even the tiniest amounts out.  She said this generally fades by two months of age.
-  Addie has a little case of acid reflux.  Doc says keeping Addison upright after feedings and feeding in small amounts should help ease this.  In the meantime, seeing lots of spit up and a fussy baby after feedings is normal.
Milestones:
Diapers:  We're officially done with newborn diapers!  The newborn diapers were just a tad too small and when we ran out, instead of buying more newborn size, we tried out the size one diapers we already had.  The size 1's are a bit too big, but it's probably better than putting her in something too snug.
Sleeping: Addie takes more catnaps during the day (versus sleeping all day long), lasting anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour, and sleeps a little longer at night.
Moods: We've seen more of a fussy side to Addison lately because of the acid reflux.  She still doesn't really cry much but we can definitely tell when she's having a rough time because of the faces she will make.

A few more pictures from week 5:

Addison loves laughing with mommy!

Aunt-T Loves Addison!!

Cousin Blake holding Addie for the first time!

4 Week Update - First Big Trip!

Addie's 4 Week Photo:

This update is a little late...we were out of town the day of her 4 week birthday and were away from home (and poor daddy) for 5 days!!
My best friend is getting married and her bachelorette party was over the weekend.  Being the maid of honor, I was the party planner.  Daddy decided to stay behind and take care of some things around the house.  There was no way I would be able to leave Addie all weekend long, so I brought her with.   I knew the drive would be long and possibly difficult, so I asked my mom to make the trip with us.  The trip went AMAZING!  Addison slept during the entire drive and was such a good baby the whole time we were away.  We were lucky enough to be able to meet up with some family while passing through Normal too.  I've included some pictures of our visit below.

Milestones:


Sleeping:  Over the weekend, my mom was able to get Addison to sleep through the night TWICE!  Friday night she slept 6 hours and Saturday night she slept 7 hours!  The trick was to have her sleeping on her belly and have a fan in the room.  We've decided to go ahead and keep a fan on in our room now but we're going to hold off on allowing her to sleep face down at night for just a bit longer (per doctor's orders).  It's still good to know there's a trick to getting her to sleep through the night though!! :)

Here are some other pictures from Week 4.