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!
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