I was very surprised when I looked at my blog this morning to see that it has been nearly a month since I have posted. Between Erin having jury duty for a week and me being sent to training for work all last week, the month as flown by. So I guess that means that I will take a look back at month 3 of Abigail's life in review.
For starters, over the past month I have really started to feel great about being a dad. The newness has worn off, we have gotten into a bit of a routine, and pieces of "normal" life are creeping back in slowly. After meeting with the DCG AD this past Monday, it has been decided that I will be taking the year off from coaching which will be great for our family and allow Erin to ease back into teaching and adjust to everything knowing that I will be around to help out with Abigail in the afternoon and evening most days.
On Friday, Abigail will be 3 months old (I know...I know...where has the time gone!?!) As of yesterday, at the bi-weekly breastfeeding class, she weighed in at 10lbs 7oz so she is still growing very well. A lot has changed since the last time I posted. She went from eating about 3oz 6 - 7 times a day to 4 1/2 oz on a set schedule 6 times a day (5am, 8am, 11am, 2pm, 5pm, and 8pm). Her biggest accomplishment so far, in my opinion, is that she has been sleeping a full 8 1/2 hours through the night for about 3 1/2 weeks now. In fact, in the past 2 weeks or so, I have been having to wake her up at 5am to feed her before I head to work. I'm sure that sounds crazy to most people, but I start work around 6am every day and Erin will be dropping her off at daycare around 7am when school starts so we are just trying to get her used to that schedule. Besides, I have never been much for sleeping in (sleeping in for me usually involves waking up around 7am). Although I am confident in her sleeping pattern, we have been warned by many people that it may not last, but I will certainly take it for now.
Abigail has become an expert at holding her head up and now prefers to be held upright sitting on your knee instead of laying like a baby. She looks around at everything and very much enjoys getting to sit in her Bumbo seat (courtesy my sister Melissa and her family) because it makes her feel like a big girl. She has really begun to show her personality as well. She has developed a fake cry that she uses mainly at feeding time when she thinks I'm not getting her the bottle fast enough. She also has a contagious smile and we think she is getting close to letting out a laugh. She is developing toy preferences too and loves when her teddy bear (courtesy of Ethan and Morgan) "tackles" her while laying on the floor. Just yesterday, while visiting our friends Drew and Kelly in Harvey, IA, Abigail grabbed on to a toy for the first time. She grabbed a rattle that I was holding and shook it many times then tried to put it in her mouth. At first I thought it might be a fluke, but then she repeated it a few times.
The noises she makes are increasing in both frequency and volume each day and she uses them to let us know when she is happy. She has also developed a bit of an scowel for when we make her do things she doesn't like. Abigail is now able to lift up her chest and head when put on her tummy, but for the most part still dislikes tummy time. One funny thing that has started to happen (I say funny although it kind of gets old, especially for Erin who does the laundry) is that several evenings in the past 2 weeks, she has had a diaper blowout while sitting in her bouncy seat while we are eating dinner. Of course it gets all over the bouncy seat and her clothes, forcing Erin to do a load of laundry when she wasn't planning to.
We have started to do more things over the past month too. Grandma Weiler came to visit and watch Abigail while Erin had jury duty. She also gave us a gift card and sent us out to eat one night while she watched Abigail. My parents visited the following weekend when we took Abigail out to eat for the first time, we went to the Pizza Ranch in Waukee. Grandpa O'Connell and I also took a fishing trip that weekend and did some baking on Sunday. Erin took Abigail out to lunch at Panera last week with friend's Ashley, Kevin and their baby girl. She also had her co-worker watch Abigail at school for a morning last week while she helped out with interviews for a new math teacher. Finally, last night we took Abigail to Harvey to visit our friends Drew and Kelly.
It was a very busy month, and I'm sure I missed or left out something that we did or someone that we saw, but I think you get the idea. I'm looking forward to another great month in August, as well as a wonderful fall with a lot of trips and activities planned!
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Party Time!
For starters, Abigail did great at her 2 month appointment. She didn't care for the shots, but the nurses made sure they went quickly and she only cried for a few minutes. The good news is that she is growing very well and the doctor is happy with where she is at. At her 2 week appointment, she was 5lbs 6oz and 18in long which put her in the 3rd percentile for babies her age for both measurements. At 2 months, she was up to 8lbs 13oz and 20 1/2in long, bumping her up to the 10th percentile in both. Also, previously her head circumference wasn't even on the chart, but she is now in the 3rd percentile.
I guess that turning 2 months old made Abigail decide to start acting more grown up. In the past 8 days, the shortest amount of time she slept at night was 6 1/2 hrs and all of the other nights have been at least 8 hours, including 1 night that was 9 hours. Even taking a trip to Grandma and Grandpa O'Connell's house for the weekend didn't seem to break her sleeping pattern. She has also been doing a great job of holding her head up. At times she can be a bit of a bobble head and gets lazy and rests it on our hand after awhile, but that doesn't seem to matter to her as she now likes to be held upright in a sitting position and only tolerates being held down when she is tired or sleeping.
Her smiles are starting to shine through more and more each day and over the weekend she increased her vocabulary of noises (along with length and volume of those noises). One time last night she even let out a high pitched squeak while I was wrapping her back up to go to bed. Her eyes are starting to wander more (and often times her head follows) making feeding her a bottle more of a chore then it had been.
This past weekend was spent at my parent's house in Evansdale. My parents threw and open house for Abigail and my new niece. It was a great time and Abigail did very well all weekend. She loved being held by so many different people (as long as they were holding her upright so she could look around) and it was a great opportunity for her to meet and spend time with so many family and friends. She got a lot of cool new things like books to read, a travel stroller and clothes for when she is a little bigger. I think we are going to use the gift cards that she got to buy a baby carrier so that we can go on some new adventures. I continue to be amazed at how easy going babies can be. Abigail experienced being and sleeping in a new environment, seeing a lot of new faces and being passed around and held by dozens of people, being in a large crowd that was loud at times, and being outside in the heat for several hours and was not bothered by any of it.
It was really good for me to get away from home and see friends and family this weekend too. It is a lot of work to travel with an infant, but it was really worth it in the end.
I guess that turning 2 months old made Abigail decide to start acting more grown up. In the past 8 days, the shortest amount of time she slept at night was 6 1/2 hrs and all of the other nights have been at least 8 hours, including 1 night that was 9 hours. Even taking a trip to Grandma and Grandpa O'Connell's house for the weekend didn't seem to break her sleeping pattern. She has also been doing a great job of holding her head up. At times she can be a bit of a bobble head and gets lazy and rests it on our hand after awhile, but that doesn't seem to matter to her as she now likes to be held upright in a sitting position and only tolerates being held down when she is tired or sleeping.
Her smiles are starting to shine through more and more each day and over the weekend she increased her vocabulary of noises (along with length and volume of those noises). One time last night she even let out a high pitched squeak while I was wrapping her back up to go to bed. Her eyes are starting to wander more (and often times her head follows) making feeding her a bottle more of a chore then it had been.
This past weekend was spent at my parent's house in Evansdale. My parents threw and open house for Abigail and my new niece. It was a great time and Abigail did very well all weekend. She loved being held by so many different people (as long as they were holding her upright so she could look around) and it was a great opportunity for her to meet and spend time with so many family and friends. She got a lot of cool new things like books to read, a travel stroller and clothes for when she is a little bigger. I think we are going to use the gift cards that she got to buy a baby carrier so that we can go on some new adventures. I continue to be amazed at how easy going babies can be. Abigail experienced being and sleeping in a new environment, seeing a lot of new faces and being passed around and held by dozens of people, being in a large crowd that was loud at times, and being outside in the heat for several hours and was not bothered by any of it.
It was really good for me to get away from home and see friends and family this weekend too. It is a lot of work to travel with an infant, but it was really worth it in the end.
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