Rolling, rolling, rolling!

Our Carlan rolled over for the first time on Tuesday, April 7! She was laying on her back in the bassinet in her pack and play and I just walked into the room and there she went! Gabe unfortunately missed it even though he was standing right there. He was watching baseball at the same time and had his eyes on the TV instead of her. She hasn't done it since, but we're working on it!

She is so responsive these days. She's been grabbing and shaking her little noise maker toy on her car seat and laughs at us when we silly things, like Gabe's dancing. And she loves it when I sing to her, sometimes she'll even coo along with me. She'll be four months old in five days, WOW!

Here are some pics from my phone.

Three Months and Then Some

I just realized this is the first and probably only blog I'm posting this month! So our lil' angel turned three months 12 days ago. She is doing great! Her hair is so long and still curly. We took our first plane ride the weekend she turned three months. We opted for a short hop to the Bay Area to visit my aunt and uncle. The flight is about two hours. Going through security wasn't bad at all. It definitely is more time consuming, we made sure we got to the airport two hours in advance. Carlan did really well flying into Oakland. She was very smiley and giggly as we were taking off out of Seattle and only fussed a little as we landed in Oakland. Leaving out of San Jose she was super fussy, but only because she was EXHAUSTED and she needed to sleep.

We didn't do too much during our visit. Carlan's first trip to California was very uneventful. Both Gabe and my uncle were sick, so surfing was out of the question. All we did was watch basketball all weekend! Tis' the season! But it was good seeing my uncle and aunt and introducing them to Carlan. Carlan also got to meet their puppy and three exotic birds who are louder than Carlan! Hopefully next time we go no one will be be sick and we'll be able to do something more productive than watch basketball all weekend.

After coming back from California I took her to the doc because we were concerned that she wasn't eating much and her lack of poops (again!). Apparently she's doing just fine. She weighed in at 13 lbs, she was 10 lbs 12 oz at her two month check up. So she's gaining more than enough weight. As far as her lack of poops, he said some babies don't poop and that's the way her body is. Well, since her doc appointment she's been pooping almost everyday! And with me, she always poops right after I put a clean diaper on her! And we're still doing cloth diapers too!

I returned back to work this week. It's Friday. I've completed my first week and didn't cry at work! We found an at home daycare for Carlan. Bridget is her daycare provider's name. We really like her, she only watches a two other boys along with Carlan. On Thursday one of the boys doesn't come, but she has a brother and sister on that day. So most of the time it's just Carlan and the two boys. We're glad the provider to child ratio is low and we know that Carlan will get the TLC she needs at this young age.

I opted to stay on my shift which is 600 a.m.-230 p.m as opposed to going to an afternoon start time. It wasn't going to make a difference as far as cost was concerned because a lot of day cares don't have part time rates! And sometimes if they did it was more than full time! And we also wanted to minimize the amount of time Carlan was in daycare, but after going over things she was only going to be in daycare a couple hours more with me working days as opposed to a swing shift. And because I have a set schedule (Gabe's off time varies) we won't have to worry when she's going to be picked up.

Let's see what else.... Here's some random things she starting to do.... She still sucks her fists and is learning to put individual fingers in her mouth. She drools like CRAZY, don't worry no teeth yet. She tends to chew and drool all over that her onesie or whatever she's wearing is saturated! Carlan is holding her head up pretty high when we put her on her tummy. She can't hold it for too long and gets pooped out after a couple minutes. We're working on her rolling over onto her back when she's on her tummy. Slowly getting there! Oh! And she's starting to grab things! her toys that we dangle in front of her, she grabs them and jingles them! Yay!

Gabe wanted to get her a walker, so we went out last weekend and purchased one. Her feet are about four inches from the ground in that thing! She's not sleeping through the night. On average she's getting up about twice a night, although two nights ago she was getting up every 1.5-2 hours! She also prefers to sleep in her pack and play as opposed to her crib. I don't think Gabe and I are going to get our bedroom back to ourselves anytime soon. Oh well, such is life!

I think that's it for now. I know it's a little lengthy and random, but it's better than nothing! Until next time my friends! And sorry, only posting a couple pics cause most of them are on Face Book and Myspace. And most of you who read this are on at least one of them!

Two Month Check Up

Gabe and I took Carlan in for her two month check up this past Sunday, on the 15th. So she was exactly two months, and yes our pediatrician works on the weekends. It's awesome, so Gabe can go to the appointments too. Carlan weighs 10 lbs 12 oz and she's about 22 inches long. She received three shots and the rodavirus which she received in her mouth. She cried briefly when she received her shots, but like I said it was brief. She was a champ throughout the entire appointment.

After receiving her shots, she wasn't feeling well the remainder of the day. The nurse said she may run a little fever, but she didn't. She fell asleep after we got home from the doctor and slept for most of the day. She just wasn't herself and when she cried it sounded like a "I don't feel good" cry. But she's all better now! We don't have to take her back for another two months.

She's been talking a lot more, but quite hasn't rolled on her side yet. She almost was successful a couple of times though! Her hair is getting longer and lightening up. It's definitely not as dark as it was when she was born. The doctor said she's doing well and told us not to change a thing!

About Time!

It's about time I've posted another blog! Our little girl will be two months next week! Two months! She's getting so big so fast and we try to cherish every single moment that we have with our little monkey. Her personality is definitely growing and she has the funniest facial expressions!

She seems to be getting longer! I'm not sure how long the average almost two month old baby is, but she just seems so long. She sucks on her hand pretty regularly and has yet to master getting her thumb or any other finger in her mouth. Although she did have her thumb in her mouth briefly the other day while she was sleeping. Wait, she also sucks on my shoulder and arm once in awhile and actually gave me a little hickey on my arm last week!

I've been on the hunt for daycare for when I return to work (March 23rd'ish). We don't want to put her in daycare, but will have to. Even if Gabe and I work opposite shifts we'll need someone to watch her during the overlap of when I start and when he gets off. A lot of places in our area do not have openings for infants and we DO NOT want to put her in a big daycare center. The less kids the better, so we're looking at home daycare. I'm going to check out a woman next week who does have availability for infants, so we'll see how that works out.

Carlan and I have been going to the mall once a week to meet with my friend and her one year old son. That's been our big once a week outing. Of course this isn't counting grocery shopping with her mommy and daddy!

We have her two month check up next weekend, so we'll see how she's progressing. Here are some recent pics of our booger butt (oh the nicknames I call her!).

This One is For You Aunty Paula

I did indeed take a picture of Carlan when she was a month old (give or take a day or two)!

Carlan at one month:

One Month

Carlan is one month old today. I can't believe our little girl is already a month old. Seems like yesterday I was in labor, thank God I'm not! She's getting so big, so fast and has changed so much since we brought her home from the hospital. I took her to the pediatrician two days ago (her belly button was oozing yucky stuff, but it's OK) and she weighed 9.5 lbs!

She still has lots of hair and has started to coo a little. She is very alert and can hold her head up for a few seconds at a time. When she's hungry and Gabe's holding her she goes for his nipple which is absolutely hilarious. Her umbilical stump fell off a week ago and she can now take a real bath. She doesn't know what to think when water is being poured all over her. She just looks confused!

We've gone shopping a couple of times and I think she likes being out and about. Granted most of the time she's sleeping in her seat, but when she's awake she just looks around at her surroundings. She gets up twice a night and sleeps about 4 hours at a time on average.

Carlan gets to meet her Grandma Cathy, Aunty Ca, and Aunty Anna tomorrow. They're flying in from Kansas for the holiday weekend. We're all looking forward to it. For those of you who don't know Carlan has two Grandma Cathy's, but my mom's name is spelled Cathi. Hopefully she won't get confused by that when she gets to be a little older!

Photos of Carlan by Dana Napoleon

There were taken on December 28 when Carlan was 13 days old.

Weight Gain

She gained weight, yay! I took her to the doc today and we had to wait an hour to be seen, so I was a little peeved. The doctor apologized for the wait which I've never had a doctor apologize for the wait! It was a quick visit, I took her clothes off and placed her on the scale and drum roll please..... She weighed 8 lbs 3 oz which is a 7 oz gain from Friday. Hip hip hooray!

She was so good while we had to wait too. No crying, no fussing at all. The only time she fussed was when I put her back in her car seat when we were getting ready to leave. The doctor said we can stop by to use the scale at anytime, just to ensure that she continues to gain weight.

Carlan 12/19-1/02

Here are some pics of our little Carlan.






She does not like bath time.




I hate wearing the pink bear suit Mommy and Daddy.






Daddy feeding Carlan for the first time.

Two Week Check Up

We took Carlan in for her two week check up (even though she's technically 2.5 weeks) today. Everything checked out good except for her weight gain. Doc said she should be back to her birth weight and this point which was 8 lbs .47 oz. When we had her last check up she weighed 7 lbs 9 oz and today she weighed 7 lbs 12 oz. So she's only gained 3 oz in the last two weeks. It seems as if I'm feeding her all the time (guests and Gabe will attest to that!), but maybe I'm not producing enough milk. So doc suggested that we continue to breastfeed her as normal and perhaps I need to increase my fluid intake (I drink at least 64 oz of water a day, I guess I need more) and/or breastfeed her at least 10 mins on each side and supplement with formula.

I fed her after we came home and Gabe gave her a bottle (mind you this was the first time she's had a bottle). She seemed a bit confused with the bottle and didn't know quite what to do with it. She drank almost an ounce of formula, some of it dripping out of her mouth. We have a follow up appointment on Tuesday to see how she's doing with her weight gain. I'm crossing my fingers.

She's very active and tries to hold her head up more often. She also likes to squirm lots and is a kicker. When Gabe and I were giving her her sponge bath last night she just about flipped herself over!

So other than her weight gain issue she checked out A-OK. She had to get a shot today in her foot and she screamed and screamed. I felt so bad for her. :-( Her doctors appointment pooped her out and she's napping with her daddy now. :-)

Mili