Abigail is officially 1/6 of the way through her first year of life and a lot has changed already.
Last Friday, Erin and I decided it was time for Abigail to start sleeping in her own bedroom. Although, due to her reflux, we still have her sleeping in the bouncy seat and not her crib. That night, and the 4 nights since, she has slept like a champ and we have been sleeping better too.
Last Friday, Abigail also got her first cold. Just as we were getting the congestion caused by infant reflux to subside, her poor little nose became congested from the cold. I'm pretty sure I have sucked several pounds of snot out of her nose since Friday, but I am glad to say that she seems to be getting better each day and being sick didn't seem to bother her as much as it bothered Erin and I.
We have been starting to get out of the house more in the past week, which is a good thing because I have really gotten sick of just sitting around home all of the time. Last week, Erin took Abigail to a baby lap sit at the Grimes library during the day. She was by far the youngest baby there, but Erin said she was enthralled by all of the other people. On Sunday, we spent a few hours out at Big Creek in the morning just walking on the trails and enjoying the nice weather. Yesterday, Erin took Abigail to the hospital for the breastfeeding class again and she weighed in at 8lbs 11oz and Erin says she is starting to make some of the newborns in the class look small.
I guess the only other thing that I can think to share is that Abigail has really started to enjoy taking baths. She would prefer to not have her head washed (so we get that out of the way first), but once she is in the tub she is quite happy. During the past 2 baths, we have let her soak in the water for awhile and she has started to kick and splash in the water. Erin says we will have to move the baby bath from the kitchen table to the bath tub soon.
It is very weird when I sit down to ponder the past 2 months. On one hand, time seems to be going by and she seems to be going quickly. On the other hand, when I think back to those first few weeks at home and our time in the hospital, it feels like lifetimes ago. I'm still waiting in anticipation for all of the fun things that are to come, but I am trying to enjoy the moment as well. Erin says that in her eyes, my time with Abigail is like the song "It won't be like this for long" by Darius Rucker and I need to enjoy everything that is going on right now...I told her I'm looking forward to when it is more like "She Thinks We're Just Fishin" by Trace Adkins...
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Monday, June 20, 2011
Smiling, Sleeping, and 1st Conversation with Dad
Abigail will be 7 1/2 weeks old tomorrow and 2 months a week from Wednesday. I would say that over the course of the past week, life has started to feel 'normal' again (whatever in the heck that means).
Erin has been claiming for a week now that she has been able to get Abigail to smile from time to time. Of course I would not believe her until I saw it myself, and on Friday I did. While Abigail was laying on the floor, Erin was playing with her legs and talking to her and sure enough she smiled...a couple of times. On Saturday morning I got her to smile and on Sunday morning, Grandma Weiler got her to smile. This morning, after the 5:00 feeding she was wide awake and kept looking at me and smiling big...I think she is going to be a morning person:)
Ever since the week of which we shall not speak of, Abigail has begun to develop a good night time sleep pattern. I'm pretty sure we are quite a ways away from sleeping all night because of how small she is and how little she can eat, but I will take what she will give us. She pretty much has 2 different night routines, either she sleeps about 5 - 5 1/2 hours for the first stretch and then 3 - 3 1/2 hours for the second stretch or she sleeps 2 4 - 4 1/2 hour stretches. I can live with both for now. I contribute how well she does at night to both the bedtime routine that we started about 3 weeks ago and the stabilization of her feeding schedule.
Yesterday was my 1st Father's Day as a dad. After feeding Abigail in the morning, I placed her in a bouncy seat looking out the window onto the deck while I did some dishes. She seemed quite content, so I started asking her questions about what she was seeing out the window. For nearly 30 minutes she responded to my questions with various noises (grunt, ahhhh, guh, etc...) like she was answering my questions. Every once in awhile she would get really excited and start kicking and making louder noises (I think she was yelling at me). Anyways, it was a nice conversation to have. Something tells me that she is going to take after her cousin Aubree and in a couple of years, we won't be able to turn her mouth off:)
Erin has been claiming for a week now that she has been able to get Abigail to smile from time to time. Of course I would not believe her until I saw it myself, and on Friday I did. While Abigail was laying on the floor, Erin was playing with her legs and talking to her and sure enough she smiled...a couple of times. On Saturday morning I got her to smile and on Sunday morning, Grandma Weiler got her to smile. This morning, after the 5:00 feeding she was wide awake and kept looking at me and smiling big...I think she is going to be a morning person:)
Ever since the week of which we shall not speak of, Abigail has begun to develop a good night time sleep pattern. I'm pretty sure we are quite a ways away from sleeping all night because of how small she is and how little she can eat, but I will take what she will give us. She pretty much has 2 different night routines, either she sleeps about 5 - 5 1/2 hours for the first stretch and then 3 - 3 1/2 hours for the second stretch or she sleeps 2 4 - 4 1/2 hour stretches. I can live with both for now. I contribute how well she does at night to both the bedtime routine that we started about 3 weeks ago and the stabilization of her feeding schedule.
Yesterday was my 1st Father's Day as a dad. After feeding Abigail in the morning, I placed her in a bouncy seat looking out the window onto the deck while I did some dishes. She seemed quite content, so I started asking her questions about what she was seeing out the window. For nearly 30 minutes she responded to my questions with various noises (grunt, ahhhh, guh, etc...) like she was answering my questions. Every once in awhile she would get really excited and start kicking and making louder noises (I think she was yelling at me). Anyways, it was a nice conversation to have. Something tells me that she is going to take after her cousin Aubree and in a couple of years, we won't be able to turn her mouth off:)
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Crabby Day, Following Objects, and Happy Noises
Abigail is 6 1/2 weeks old today! She is officially outgrowing her newborn clothes and moving into the 0-3 month size. We are also merely days (or possibly hours) away from outgrowing newborn diapers. An unofficial weigh in on Sunday had her at about 8 lbs.
As Grandma O'Connell put it, everyone has crabby days, even babies. Boy was that true for Abigail on Sunday. After such a great week, and a good day at the walk on Saturday, we had a crabby baby on our hands Sunday. Luckily, grandma was there in the morning to deal with the fussiness, which gave Erin and I time to get ourselves ready for the day. After grandma and grandpa left, things went down hill fast and frustration set in. For the first time in her little life, we were unable to do anything to make her happy. She refused to sleep and just cried and cried all afternoon. We were finally able to get her to calm down when I put on the Moby Wrap (my first time with it) and she took a nap while I sat in the chair watching TV. I'm thinking a good nap is what she needed, because the evening was much better.
After feeding her, we let her lay out naked on a blanket for awhile. This is when we discovered that she can follow objects with her eyes and by turning her head. Not only that, but she seemed to love doing it because it kept her very happy for quite awhile. I'm certain that I had the most fun with it (I've been waiting for a good way that I can interact with her) out of all of us. We also discovered that she loves having different textures rubbed on her skin, especially her soft bunny toy. She would make the happiest noises and coo as we would rub it on her arms, legs, and tummy. We are hopping to get a video of these happy noises this week.
Things sure are beginning to happen fast, and I am loving every minute of it (except for Sunday afternoon, we can just forget about that one). In fact, I have spent a few hours this week reading about the 1st year of a babies development, and different ways to play with her each month. I am very excited to keep watching for her to reach milestones and be able to interact with us even more.
As Grandma O'Connell put it, everyone has crabby days, even babies. Boy was that true for Abigail on Sunday. After such a great week, and a good day at the walk on Saturday, we had a crabby baby on our hands Sunday. Luckily, grandma was there in the morning to deal with the fussiness, which gave Erin and I time to get ourselves ready for the day. After grandma and grandpa left, things went down hill fast and frustration set in. For the first time in her little life, we were unable to do anything to make her happy. She refused to sleep and just cried and cried all afternoon. We were finally able to get her to calm down when I put on the Moby Wrap (my first time with it) and she took a nap while I sat in the chair watching TV. I'm thinking a good nap is what she needed, because the evening was much better.
After feeding her, we let her lay out naked on a blanket for awhile. This is when we discovered that she can follow objects with her eyes and by turning her head. Not only that, but she seemed to love doing it because it kept her very happy for quite awhile. I'm certain that I had the most fun with it (I've been waiting for a good way that I can interact with her) out of all of us. We also discovered that she loves having different textures rubbed on her skin, especially her soft bunny toy. She would make the happiest noises and coo as we would rub it on her arms, legs, and tummy. We are hopping to get a video of these happy noises this week.
Things sure are beginning to happen fast, and I am loving every minute of it (except for Sunday afternoon, we can just forget about that one). In fact, I have spent a few hours this week reading about the 1st year of a babies development, and different ways to play with her each month. I am very excited to keep watching for her to reach milestones and be able to interact with us even more.
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Last Week is Gone Forever
So I put off posting for awhile as life was a bit stressful and I didn't feel like I had much good to say. After putting some thought into it, I realize that parenting isn't all great and it is important to document the bad with the good.
Over Memorial Day weekend, our family traveled to Erin's parent's house in Bettendorf. The weekend went well and all of Mary's friends loved having a chance to meet and hold Abigail during the annual Taco Day celebration on Sunday. Abigail traveled well and slept most of the way there and back in the car. That being said, while at Grandma and Grandpa Weiler's house, she started to become VERY congested and wasn't eating or sleeping as well.
Over the next couple of days things kept going down hill as Abigail was sleeping less and less and becoming much more crabby then usual. Erin took her to the doctor on Wednesday where she was diagnosed with chronic congestion from acid reflux. The doctor pointed out that we were over feeding her and using the bulb syringe too much, which was irritating her nasal tissue. She also provided us with some suggestions to help alleviate some of the problem, such as keeping her upright as much as possible. Over the next couple of days, we also identified part of Erin's diet that proved to be adding to the problem. By Saturday, her major symptoms had begun to subside and since she has been more like the baby we knew prior to the holiday weekend.
Of course, if the issues and lack of sleep at home weren't enough, I also had a VERY RARE bad week at work providing additional stress. Happily, as the title of the post mentions, last week is gone forever. I hate wishing my life away, but sometimes it is just a matter of getting through the day somehow and someway.
As a disclaimer, I am very aware that the few minor issues that we have had while raising Abigail seem insignificant compared to the experience of many family members and friends. I am not complaining, but instead using this blog to record my feelings and experiences of being a dad.
Over Memorial Day weekend, our family traveled to Erin's parent's house in Bettendorf. The weekend went well and all of Mary's friends loved having a chance to meet and hold Abigail during the annual Taco Day celebration on Sunday. Abigail traveled well and slept most of the way there and back in the car. That being said, while at Grandma and Grandpa Weiler's house, she started to become VERY congested and wasn't eating or sleeping as well.
Over the next couple of days things kept going down hill as Abigail was sleeping less and less and becoming much more crabby then usual. Erin took her to the doctor on Wednesday where she was diagnosed with chronic congestion from acid reflux. The doctor pointed out that we were over feeding her and using the bulb syringe too much, which was irritating her nasal tissue. She also provided us with some suggestions to help alleviate some of the problem, such as keeping her upright as much as possible. Over the next couple of days, we also identified part of Erin's diet that proved to be adding to the problem. By Saturday, her major symptoms had begun to subside and since she has been more like the baby we knew prior to the holiday weekend.
Of course, if the issues and lack of sleep at home weren't enough, I also had a VERY RARE bad week at work providing additional stress. Happily, as the title of the post mentions, last week is gone forever. I hate wishing my life away, but sometimes it is just a matter of getting through the day somehow and someway.
As a disclaimer, I am very aware that the few minor issues that we have had while raising Abigail seem insignificant compared to the experience of many family members and friends. I am not complaining, but instead using this blog to record my feelings and experiences of being a dad.
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