As always, a lot has changed since my last post. For starters, Erin and I put an offer in on a 26 acre property with a cabin on it located near Ottumwa, IA and it was accepted. We should be closing on the property in the next few weeks. I look forward to having a place for Abigail to go to experience nature as she grew up. For me, it was Grandma and Grandpa Zobeck's farm when I was young and uncle Bruce's farm as I got older. I hope that she will have even more great memories then I have.
We have spent a lot of time at home over the past couple of months, but time still seems to be flying by. Erin's parents came for a visit the first weekend of February to celebrate Erin's birthday and they ended up staying to watch the Super Bowl as well. Abigail take her 2nd trip to a restaurant that weekend (Rock Bottom Brewery) and did very well sitting in the high chair with us at the table.
At the beginning of February, Abigail came down with Hand, Foot and Mouth virus. What a nasty illness that is, sores all over her body as well as in her mouth and throat. It hurt so much to swallow that drool would run out of her mouth at an alarming rate. Erin and I took turns staying home with her that week and for the most part she was a trooper and gave us plenty of smiles and giggles between all of the sleeping that she was doing.
Abigail and I enjoyed several days together by ourselves as Erin had conferences in mid-February and spent all day the following Saturday at a scrap booking retreat. Unfortunately, Abigail had some sort of stomach bug that was causing her to projectile vomit on occasion that week. It got to the point that I was nearly afraid to feed her at all. Luckily, that passed after about 4 days and many rolls of paper towels later. Yuck!
The last weekend in February we made a trip to my parent's house in Evansdale. Erin was having a girls weekend with my high school friends and we got our taxes taken care of. I also did some shopping with dad for some items we need for the land/cabin. Abigail did great showing Grandma and Grandpa all her new "tricks" and of course did her best to get at everything she shouldn't.
This past weekend, I worked in the garage on building a toy box for Abigail to give to her for her 1st birthday. So far it has turned out great! I just have to complete the staining and put on a couple of coats of polyurethane and it will be finished. It is a large toy box, 36" X 20" X 20" so hopefully it will hold most of her toys for awhile.
Abigail has made some big strides over the past couple of months. She started with being able to scoot backwards while on her belly (but she still can't go forwards). She then figured out how to scoot around on her bottom using just her legs. Now she is on the go all of the time and we have to block her in whatever room we want her to be in. She is doing well standing while holding onto things (i.e. the recliner, couch, etc) and is starting to try to pull herself up. Ironically, she now does not like to lay on her back at all and immediately rolls to her tummy. Her favorite sleeping position is on her tummy, up on her knees with her arms tucked under her.
Just in the past week or so, she has started to get up on her knees while on her tummy and rock back and forth so I think crawling is not too far in her future.
Oh, and I almost forgot. Abigail had a great 9 month well baby visit at the doctor. I don't remember the exact measurements off the top of my head, but she has gone from 13% to 31% in weight and 1% to 30% in height as well as 30% to 63% in head circumference. The doctor is very pleased!
Monday, March 5, 2012
Friday, January 20, 2012
The Holidays
I know, I know, it has been a looooong time since my last post. For the last few months, I have been working on a very critical project at work that has included a lot of stress and no free time so I just haven't gotten around to posting another blog entry.
For starters, A LOT has happened since my last post but I will still try to keep this as short as possible. For starters, we celebrated Thanksgiving at our house this year. My mom and dad came down for a long weekend and my sister Brenda and her family stopped in to celebrate with us on Thanksgiving day. We had a great time and I really enjoyed getting to cook my 1st Thanksgiving meal.
The following weekend, Abigail and I headed to Waukon, IA to stay at my Grandma and Grandpa Zobeck's house for deer hunting. My mom watched Abigail while we hunted and Abigail did very well. Grandma and Grandpa really enjoyed getting to spend a few days with her and she just seems to be the life of the party wherever we go. I think Erin had a hard time with being away from Abigail for so long, but it all worked out and she was very excited to have us come home the following Wednesday. As for me, it was a great experience that built up my confidence in travelling with Abigail. She did so well sleeping and being happy in new surroundings.
Erin's parents came to our house for the 2nd weekend of December to work on stuff for Grandma Engelmann's 80th birthday party the following weekend. I cooked a ham with cheesy potatoes on Sunday for a big meal and a good time was had by all.
The 3rd weekend of December, we traveled to Bettendorf to celebrate Christmas with Erin's family on Saturday and Grandma Engelmann's 80th birthday on Sunday. We some how managed to cram Erin, Abigail, Hunter, me, and all of our belongings and Christmas presents into the Corolla for the weekend. Once again, Abigail did great and the weekend was fun. She didn't quite figure out the whole unwrapping presents "thing", but she really liked to pull the tissue paper out of gift bags and play with the boxes. The one thing I learned from this weekend is how different the holiday's are with kids. I'm not saying it was bad at all, but there is a lot of stress added to the situation and there seemed to be little time to sit down to relax and enjoy the time with family.
For Christmas weekend, we stayed home and it was awesome. On the Thursday before Christmas, we took Abigail to see Santa at Bass Pro and she really enjoyed it. Abigail got a little better at opening her presents too. We made a birthday cake for Jesus on Christmas eve and attended 4:00pm mass, something that I will never do again. Mass was crowded and we actually had to sit in the hallway, although we were lucky because a lot of people had to stand. I think next year we will check out 7:30am mass on Christmas morning.
My sister, Brenda, and her family stopped by for lunch on the Monday after Christmas and we got to see how well their baby girl is scooting around on the floor. On Friday, we had my brother, Paul, and his family over for dinner. I made burgers, using the new burger press that Erin got me for Christmas, french fries and corn. We had a great time with them and their 2 kids really enjoyed playing with Abigail. I played a few rounds of Uno with the kids as well.
For New Years weekend we headed to my parent's house to celebrate Christmas. We had planned to have Lori Reynolds and her family stop over for a visit, but an illness in their family put an end to that idea. Instead, dad and I spent Saturday grinding deer meat and we made it to mass Saturday evening in Gilbertville. After mass, we ran into my youth minister from high school and her family so they were able to meet Abigail for the 1st time. On Sunday, my sister, Melissa, and her family came to celebrate Christmas with us. We spent the day eating, playing, opening presents, laughing, and having a great time. With no set schedule, and no where to be, the day was very fun and relaxing. The kids were a joy to watch playing and, as always, it was great to spend time with Melissa and her husband, Mike.
As you can guess, Abigail is doing a lot of new things since the last time I posted. Abigail can now roll over both directions. She is saying both "mamamama" and "dadadada" along with A LOT of other noises. She can reach really far to get at a toy or other object that she is interested in. She really likes playing with the rattle balls that Grandma and Grandpa Weiler got her for Christmas. She can scoot in a circle on her butt and on her tummy. She isn't crawling yet and shows little interest in remaining on her tummy for very long now that she can roll over whenever she wants. She is drinking well from a sippy cup and is now eating 2 meals a day along with her bottles (fruit or veggie for lunch and fruit and veggie for dinner). She can wave hi/bye, do "so big", clap, and give a high five. She giggles and smiles a lot, but still has her crabby moments when she is getting tired. She likes being startled and playing peek-a-boo and she really likes being bounced, jiggled, and thrown around. I have started taking Abigail grocery shopping with me each week and she does a really good job, I think there is so much for her to look at that she is just in awe. I'm sure the ease of shopping will not last as soon as she becomes more mobile.
I can't believe that she is closing in on 9 months old, in fact, Erin and I were already discussing plans for her 1st birthday. Time is flying by, but we are having a lot of fun!
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Difficult Month with A LOT of Change
So it has been quite some time since I last posted. This has nothing to do with how Abigail is doing and everything to do with Erin and I being sick. During the month of October, there was not a single day that one of us was sick and several where both of us were. During this same time, Abigail got by with just a little cold. Erin and I are both in agreement that we have no idea how someone could manage to be a single parent, that would seem to be an impossible amount of work and would require and endless amount of energy.
Luckily, we are on the mend now (for the most part) and Abigail has been making some huge strides in development. The second weekend of October, we traveled to Evansdale for UNI Homecoming. Abigail spent time with Grandma and Grandpa O'Connell playing in the leaves while Erin and I went to the game and out to dinner.
Grandma and Grandpa Weiler visited the following weekend and Abigail got to experience the Des Moines farmer's market and Arcadia in Ames (a little cafe that a friend of Erin's owns). Then on October 22 - 23 we headed to Kansas City. We spent part of Saturday visiting my sister Brenda, her husband John, and their daughter (who is only 6 days older then Abigail), Jocelyn. Then we spent the night at John and Susan's house (Erin's Aunt and Uncle) before heading home on Sunday. Abigail did great and traveled well.
After returning home from KC, Abigail had rice cereal for the 1st time and loved it. She has now moved on to 2 meals a day that include rice cereal, oatmeal cereal, squash, or carrots and she is such a good eater.
The 1st week of November was a busy one as Abigail had 6 month pictures taken at Sears on November 1st, then had her 6 month well baby checkup on the 2nd. Both went very well. At her 6 month appointment she was 23 3/4 inches long and weighed 14.1 lbs. The doctor is starting to get a bit concerned about her weight, so we have started to add rice cereal to all of Abigail's bottles to add calories. She also switched her off of Zantac for infant reflux to Previcid which seems to be helping even more as her spitting up has nearly disappeared.
A lot has happened over the last month in the way of development. Abigail is now sitting up completely unsupported and playing with toys. When put on her back, she will roll back and forth from side to side but won't quite roll over yet. She has rolled over a couple of times from her tummy to her back but doesn't do it very often. She can pass toys from one hand to the other and has figured out that if a toy is out of her reach, she can pull the blanket she is on to move it closer to her. Most of her time is spent laughing, smiling, and more recently screeching. One week during October, she enjoyed sticking out her tongue and spitting...nothing like getting a baby spit shower in the afternoon! Of course, everything is a chew toy right now, her favorite being her fists. She loves to play with her feet but surprisingly doesn't put them in her mouth.
I am really starting to look forward to the holidays and Abigail experiencing so many firsts. She was a pumpkin for Halloween (thanks to aunt Melissa for the costume) and helped me hand out candy to the kids. My parents and my sister Brenda's family will be visiting for Thanksgiving (the 1st time ever I will get to make a Thanksgiving dinner). Then of course, Christmas and all of the fun that goes with that season. So much to look forward to over the next couple of months!
Luckily, we are on the mend now (for the most part) and Abigail has been making some huge strides in development. The second weekend of October, we traveled to Evansdale for UNI Homecoming. Abigail spent time with Grandma and Grandpa O'Connell playing in the leaves while Erin and I went to the game and out to dinner.
Grandma and Grandpa Weiler visited the following weekend and Abigail got to experience the Des Moines farmer's market and Arcadia in Ames (a little cafe that a friend of Erin's owns). Then on October 22 - 23 we headed to Kansas City. We spent part of Saturday visiting my sister Brenda, her husband John, and their daughter (who is only 6 days older then Abigail), Jocelyn. Then we spent the night at John and Susan's house (Erin's Aunt and Uncle) before heading home on Sunday. Abigail did great and traveled well.
After returning home from KC, Abigail had rice cereal for the 1st time and loved it. She has now moved on to 2 meals a day that include rice cereal, oatmeal cereal, squash, or carrots and she is such a good eater.
The 1st week of November was a busy one as Abigail had 6 month pictures taken at Sears on November 1st, then had her 6 month well baby checkup on the 2nd. Both went very well. At her 6 month appointment she was 23 3/4 inches long and weighed 14.1 lbs. The doctor is starting to get a bit concerned about her weight, so we have started to add rice cereal to all of Abigail's bottles to add calories. She also switched her off of Zantac for infant reflux to Previcid which seems to be helping even more as her spitting up has nearly disappeared.
A lot has happened over the last month in the way of development. Abigail is now sitting up completely unsupported and playing with toys. When put on her back, she will roll back and forth from side to side but won't quite roll over yet. She has rolled over a couple of times from her tummy to her back but doesn't do it very often. She can pass toys from one hand to the other and has figured out that if a toy is out of her reach, she can pull the blanket she is on to move it closer to her. Most of her time is spent laughing, smiling, and more recently screeching. One week during October, she enjoyed sticking out her tongue and spitting...nothing like getting a baby spit shower in the afternoon! Of course, everything is a chew toy right now, her favorite being her fists. She loves to play with her feet but surprisingly doesn't put them in her mouth.
I am really starting to look forward to the holidays and Abigail experiencing so many firsts. She was a pumpkin for Halloween (thanks to aunt Melissa for the costume) and helped me hand out candy to the kids. My parents and my sister Brenda's family will be visiting for Thanksgiving (the 1st time ever I will get to make a Thanksgiving dinner). Then of course, Christmas and all of the fun that goes with that season. So much to look forward to over the next couple of months!
Thursday, September 22, 2011
On the downhill slide to 5 months
In 1 week, Abigail will be 5 months old...wow.
Over the past couple of weeks, life has gotten back to normal (well, as normal as it can get with a baby in the house). Abigail's feeding has stabilized and she has gotten through her constipation issues. She did come down with a cold that caused a few miserable days last week, but she is now over that too. For the most part, she continues to be a very happy baby and is still sleeping very well both at night and for naps (even unswaddled).
I guess the big news doesn't have to do with her at all. Over the past couple of weeks, I have finally started to overcome the guilt of leaving the house for some time "off" to do some of my hobbies and the things that I love. Last Wednesday, I tent camped with my mom and dad at Lake Belva Deer (in near freezing temps) and spent some time fishing. That was my first night away from Abigail since she was born. I expected it to feel weird. Although I missed both her and Erin, I think that trip is exactly what I needed to overcome the guilt that I have been feeling. It actually made me feel "normal" again (whatever that means). Last weekend, my parents came to our house for my birthday, so naturally, my dad and I spent time fishing. It was a blast! It is so fun to watch my parents interact with Abigail and see how much they love and care about her. This coming weekend, Melissa and Mike will be stopping by for supper Saturday evening so they will have a chance to see Abigail again too.
Over the past couple of weeks, Abigail has started to try to mimic faces that we make which can be quite entertaining. She also tries to mimic some sounds as well. Tummy time continues to become less of a chore as she spent about 30 minutes straight on her tummy a couple of nights ago. Every time she is on her tummy, she seems so close to rolling over but she still hasn't. I feel like she has been close for a month now, but there is no rush from me. She has also figured out how to grab the pacifier out of her mouth and put it back in. It certainly isn't a fluid motion, but she can get the job done as long as the pacifier is within reach. Last week, Erin said that when she put Abigail in the car to go to daycare, she didn't have a pacifier in her mouth, but when she got her out at daycare she did.
I have also discovered another perk to no more swaddling, and that is sleepers...oh my gosh does Abigail look cute in a sleeper:)
Although the doctor said it can take awhile for the teeth to actually show up once a baby starts teething, I'm pretty sure Abigail is on that track. We are going through several bibs a day to soak up all that drool.
This week Abigail moved up to the next room at daycare. I really like the staff in that room and it seems that there is a greater focus on development and play over the last room, which was focused more on feeding, diaper changing, and sleeping. She now has 2 nap times in her crib and gets to spend time with play mats and in an excersaucer (which she loves).
I think that is all for now.
Over the past couple of weeks, life has gotten back to normal (well, as normal as it can get with a baby in the house). Abigail's feeding has stabilized and she has gotten through her constipation issues. She did come down with a cold that caused a few miserable days last week, but she is now over that too. For the most part, she continues to be a very happy baby and is still sleeping very well both at night and for naps (even unswaddled).
I guess the big news doesn't have to do with her at all. Over the past couple of weeks, I have finally started to overcome the guilt of leaving the house for some time "off" to do some of my hobbies and the things that I love. Last Wednesday, I tent camped with my mom and dad at Lake Belva Deer (in near freezing temps) and spent some time fishing. That was my first night away from Abigail since she was born. I expected it to feel weird. Although I missed both her and Erin, I think that trip is exactly what I needed to overcome the guilt that I have been feeling. It actually made me feel "normal" again (whatever that means). Last weekend, my parents came to our house for my birthday, so naturally, my dad and I spent time fishing. It was a blast! It is so fun to watch my parents interact with Abigail and see how much they love and care about her. This coming weekend, Melissa and Mike will be stopping by for supper Saturday evening so they will have a chance to see Abigail again too.
Over the past couple of weeks, Abigail has started to try to mimic faces that we make which can be quite entertaining. She also tries to mimic some sounds as well. Tummy time continues to become less of a chore as she spent about 30 minutes straight on her tummy a couple of nights ago. Every time she is on her tummy, she seems so close to rolling over but she still hasn't. I feel like she has been close for a month now, but there is no rush from me. She has also figured out how to grab the pacifier out of her mouth and put it back in. It certainly isn't a fluid motion, but she can get the job done as long as the pacifier is within reach. Last week, Erin said that when she put Abigail in the car to go to daycare, she didn't have a pacifier in her mouth, but when she got her out at daycare she did.
I have also discovered another perk to no more swaddling, and that is sleepers...oh my gosh does Abigail look cute in a sleeper:)
Although the doctor said it can take awhile for the teeth to actually show up once a baby starts teething, I'm pretty sure Abigail is on that track. We are going through several bibs a day to soak up all that drool.
This week Abigail moved up to the next room at daycare. I really like the staff in that room and it seems that there is a greater focus on development and play over the last room, which was focused more on feeding, diaper changing, and sleeping. She now has 2 nap times in her crib and gets to spend time with play mats and in an excersaucer (which she loves).
I think that is all for now.
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Troublesome Month and Great 4 Month Well Baby Checkup
As mentioned in my last post, we were having some issues with Abigail eating and the consistency of her stools. Well, I'm going to lay out a time frame for you as we continue to see repercussions of this issue.
August 2: We discover mucus in Abigail's dirty diapers
August 4: We take Abigail to the doctor's to get checked out. The nurse practitioner believes it is a GI infection and will pass. Told us to call if it is still happening on Monday
August 8: Still have mucus in the stool. Call the doctor and she has us switch Abigail to Soy Formula
August 19: Mucus is gone, but now Abigail is having issues with spitting up and vomiting (often several hours after eating). Doctor okays switching back to regular formula
August 20: Abigail vomits after eating in the morning and eats very little for several days (although nothing else seems to be wrong)
August 22: After 3 days of not eating much, we call the doctor with concerns of dehydration and schedule an appointment for the next day.
August 23: Doctor thinks the spitting up and not eating well are both related to infant reflux recurrence (She says reflux is usually at its worst around 4 months old). Suggests going back to sleeping upright and keeping her upright as much as possible. Also suggests trying to feed her a little less and prescribes Zantac to be taken twice a day
August 29: Reflux symptoms subside but mucus returns to her stools
August 31: Abigail's 4 month well baby appointment. Doctor is happy with her progress in the past week and suggests trying to go back to Soy formula since that eliminated the mucus the first time.
September 2: Successfully start Abigail back on Soy formula
September 5: Now 2 1/2 days since her last dirty diaper, Abigail is showing signs of constipation (Straining, crying and a little bit of hard stool). After getting suggestions from my mom and the on call doctor, we give Abigail some prune juice.
September 6 (Today): Abigail wakes us up around 3am with a full diaper (although it is still quite firm, it was good to see her pass that much). She went back to sleep until her feeding at 5:30 and didn't seem to be straining and wasn't crying like the previous day. Erin fed her some more prune juice before dropping her off at daycare.
Hopefully the battle with her GI system is coming to a happy end soon, but it has made for some stressful moments in the past month.
On a good note, on August 31st, Abigail had another well baby appointment and the doctor is very pleased with her progress. She now is 11lbs 14oz putting her in the 15th percentile for weight (up from the 10th at 2 months). She is 22 1/4 inches long and her head circumference has jumped from the 3rd percentile to the 40th percentile. The doctor is convinced that we have been feeding her upside down. Short of rolling over, she is meeting all of the expected milestones for a 4 month old (I might add that she is getting close to rolling over, just not quite there yet).
Abigail loves to smile at us and it warms my heart each time she does it. We are starting to discover ways to get her to giggle but most of the time giggling ends in hiccups. She is still sleeping very well at night and napping well. Another milestone was reached last Friday night when Abigail started sleeping at night without a swaddle. I was worried that she might wake herself up during the night if we didn't swaddle her, but so far those worries seem to be unfounded (I don't count last night due to the constipation that she is dealing with).
This past weekend we spent in the quad cities. On Saturday, we drove up to see my sister and her family and had a great time playing with her kids. Sunday, we met them at the I-Wireless Center for the Ringling Brother's Circus and it was a blast. I think that the loud noises and busy atmosphere got a little overstimulating for Abigail, but she did a great job and eventually dozed off with Erin holding her. As for me, I absolutely loved the circus and can't wait to go back when Abigail is older.
August 2: We discover mucus in Abigail's dirty diapers
August 4: We take Abigail to the doctor's to get checked out. The nurse practitioner believes it is a GI infection and will pass. Told us to call if it is still happening on Monday
August 8: Still have mucus in the stool. Call the doctor and she has us switch Abigail to Soy Formula
August 19: Mucus is gone, but now Abigail is having issues with spitting up and vomiting (often several hours after eating). Doctor okays switching back to regular formula
August 20: Abigail vomits after eating in the morning and eats very little for several days (although nothing else seems to be wrong)
August 22: After 3 days of not eating much, we call the doctor with concerns of dehydration and schedule an appointment for the next day.
August 23: Doctor thinks the spitting up and not eating well are both related to infant reflux recurrence (She says reflux is usually at its worst around 4 months old). Suggests going back to sleeping upright and keeping her upright as much as possible. Also suggests trying to feed her a little less and prescribes Zantac to be taken twice a day
August 29: Reflux symptoms subside but mucus returns to her stools
August 31: Abigail's 4 month well baby appointment. Doctor is happy with her progress in the past week and suggests trying to go back to Soy formula since that eliminated the mucus the first time.
September 2: Successfully start Abigail back on Soy formula
September 5: Now 2 1/2 days since her last dirty diaper, Abigail is showing signs of constipation (Straining, crying and a little bit of hard stool). After getting suggestions from my mom and the on call doctor, we give Abigail some prune juice.
September 6 (Today): Abigail wakes us up around 3am with a full diaper (although it is still quite firm, it was good to see her pass that much). She went back to sleep until her feeding at 5:30 and didn't seem to be straining and wasn't crying like the previous day. Erin fed her some more prune juice before dropping her off at daycare.
Hopefully the battle with her GI system is coming to a happy end soon, but it has made for some stressful moments in the past month.
On a good note, on August 31st, Abigail had another well baby appointment and the doctor is very pleased with her progress. She now is 11lbs 14oz putting her in the 15th percentile for weight (up from the 10th at 2 months). She is 22 1/4 inches long and her head circumference has jumped from the 3rd percentile to the 40th percentile. The doctor is convinced that we have been feeding her upside down. Short of rolling over, she is meeting all of the expected milestones for a 4 month old (I might add that she is getting close to rolling over, just not quite there yet).
Abigail loves to smile at us and it warms my heart each time she does it. We are starting to discover ways to get her to giggle but most of the time giggling ends in hiccups. She is still sleeping very well at night and napping well. Another milestone was reached last Friday night when Abigail started sleeping at night without a swaddle. I was worried that she might wake herself up during the night if we didn't swaddle her, but so far those worries seem to be unfounded (I don't count last night due to the constipation that she is dealing with).
This past weekend we spent in the quad cities. On Saturday, we drove up to see my sister and her family and had a great time playing with her kids. Sunday, we met them at the I-Wireless Center for the Ringling Brother's Circus and it was a blast. I think that the loud noises and busy atmosphere got a little overstimulating for Abigail, but she did a great job and eventually dozed off with Erin holding her. As for me, I absolutely loved the circus and can't wait to go back when Abigail is older.
Monday, August 22, 2011
Daycare Starts and the Fun Continues
Last Monday, Erin dropped Abigail off at daycare for the 1st time. I know that it was very difficult for Erin after spending the 1st 3 1/2 months of Abigail's life with her every day, however, both of them seem to have transitioned well. Abigail started off in the newborn room (6 weeks - 4 months) at daycare and the teacher said that she hasn't had any issues during the 1st week. At first we were nervous about her figuring out how to sleep at daycare without being swaddled (thank you state of Iowa for that silly rule) but by Friday, she was taking naps just fine at daycare and we are no longer swaddling her at home for naps during the day. We are still swaddling at night, but I think we might be nearing the end with that too.
The one thing that I have noticed with Erin going back to school, is how much I am missing Erin now. I spent all of my time worrying about the transition for Erin and Abigail, I guess that I didn't prepare myself for the changes. Another surprise is that so far I am not missing coaching at all, however, that may change as football seasons start in the next week or so.
I look forward to picking up Abigail from daycare each day and am excited when I hear from the teachers how well she is doing. I'm trying to identify things that we can do each day to enjoy our time together before Erin gets home from school. So far, we have just spent time at home playing on the floor and reading books, but I hope to find places that I can take her that both of us will enjoy.
After looking at my last post, I guess a lot has not changed over the past 2 weeks. She is smiling and laughing a lot now and is generally a happy baby. She grabs onto anything within her reach. While eating, she likes to grab onto her bib and/or burp rag and shove them into her mouth (I keep telling her that we only have so many bibs so she can't eat them all). She has started to hate tummy time less (although she still isn't a big fan) and on a few occasions has gone longer then 5 minutes at a time without screaming. In fact, yesterday we had a really good tummy session where she held her head and chest up for quite a long time to look into a mirror and almost rolled over a few times too. She discovered the baby in the mirror and never seems to tire of looking in the mirror. She has started to reach out from her body to bat at objects (she has been grabbing objects out to the side for awhile but just started reaching out in front of her for things).
I guess there has been one issue that is plaguing is lately. Due to her stool consistency at the beginning of August (I will spare you the details), the doctor suggested we try Soy-based formula. This seemed to clear up the issues with her stool but she began spitting up a lot more often (and strangely, not right after a feeding but a couple hours later). With the doctor's permission, we switched back to regular formula on Friday evening. Strangely, she didn't eat much on Saturday (15oz total instead of close to 30oz). Yesterday was a little better as she ate close to 20oz but she still has us a bit worried. Luckily, she woke up this morning and ate very well. We told daycare to call us if she didn't eat well for them (and since we are nearly 2 hours post feeding and they haven't called, she must have eaten well). We are hopping that it was due to the formula change and not something more serious as we are concerned with dehydration. Time will tell, but hopefully we won't have to take her to the doctor again before her well baby check up next week.
I almost forgot, an unofficial weigh this weekend has Abigail nearing 12 1/2lbs. Time to start buying level 2 diapers!
The one thing that I have noticed with Erin going back to school, is how much I am missing Erin now. I spent all of my time worrying about the transition for Erin and Abigail, I guess that I didn't prepare myself for the changes. Another surprise is that so far I am not missing coaching at all, however, that may change as football seasons start in the next week or so.
I look forward to picking up Abigail from daycare each day and am excited when I hear from the teachers how well she is doing. I'm trying to identify things that we can do each day to enjoy our time together before Erin gets home from school. So far, we have just spent time at home playing on the floor and reading books, but I hope to find places that I can take her that both of us will enjoy.
After looking at my last post, I guess a lot has not changed over the past 2 weeks. She is smiling and laughing a lot now and is generally a happy baby. She grabs onto anything within her reach. While eating, she likes to grab onto her bib and/or burp rag and shove them into her mouth (I keep telling her that we only have so many bibs so she can't eat them all). She has started to hate tummy time less (although she still isn't a big fan) and on a few occasions has gone longer then 5 minutes at a time without screaming. In fact, yesterday we had a really good tummy session where she held her head and chest up for quite a long time to look into a mirror and almost rolled over a few times too. She discovered the baby in the mirror and never seems to tire of looking in the mirror. She has started to reach out from her body to bat at objects (she has been grabbing objects out to the side for awhile but just started reaching out in front of her for things).
I guess there has been one issue that is plaguing is lately. Due to her stool consistency at the beginning of August (I will spare you the details), the doctor suggested we try Soy-based formula. This seemed to clear up the issues with her stool but she began spitting up a lot more often (and strangely, not right after a feeding but a couple hours later). With the doctor's permission, we switched back to regular formula on Friday evening. Strangely, she didn't eat much on Saturday (15oz total instead of close to 30oz). Yesterday was a little better as she ate close to 20oz but she still has us a bit worried. Luckily, she woke up this morning and ate very well. We told daycare to call us if she didn't eat well for them (and since we are nearly 2 hours post feeding and they haven't called, she must have eaten well). We are hopping that it was due to the formula change and not something more serious as we are concerned with dehydration. Time will tell, but hopefully we won't have to take her to the doctor again before her well baby check up next week.
I almost forgot, an unofficial weigh this weekend has Abigail nearing 12 1/2lbs. Time to start buying level 2 diapers!
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
The Golden Age
Recently, Erin was reading the book "What to Expect in the 1st Year", and came across a statement declaring that from about 3 months old until 7 or 8 months old (or when a baby starts crawling) is considered the golden age for infants. Their reasoning is that usually, starting around 3 months, babies start sleeping better at night, are smiling, begin laughing and making happy noises, playing with toys and other "fun" things but are not yet very mobile. I know several parents that would disagree with the above description, however, I really feel that the golden age for Abigail has begun.
Taking care of her is still quite the chore, but I have found that more and more time has been spent playing with and interacting with her verses doing work to simply maintain life. For the most part, she spends her days being very happy.
The past couple of weeks have been a lot of fun. She has gotten much louder with her noises and at times seems to be yelling at us. She can now grab onto objects that are either handed to her or placed near her and is just beginning to reach for objects held above or in front of her. She has rolled over from her tummy to back a few times when propped up on her teddy bear, but isn't quite there yet when placed flat on her tummy. She can now get her thumb and whole hand up to her mouth whenever she wants and drool is flowing freely.
One thing that Erin and I discussed yesterday is that she seems to be understanding social interaction more. She will turn to look at us when we talk and smiles at us when we walk into the room. When we smile at her she will smile back. She also can tell when we are and aren't paying attention to her and she prefers the former (and lets us know by making loud noises when we aren't paying enough attention to her).
Last Saturday was a BIG day for our family as Abigail was baptized at 4:30 mass. I'm not even sure how to describe how happy it makes me to be raising our daughter in the faith that both Erin and I have been raised in. The Catholic church is an amazing community to be a part of and God's Grace has definitely blessed Abigail since the day she was conceived. I think back at all of the worry and stress that was involved during Erin's final months of pregnancy and through the first couple of days after Abigail was born. All of the things that could have gone wrong but didn't, that was God and work. For her to become a part of our faith family, makes everything seem whole.
To end this entry, I would like to take a moment to thank Erin and both of my parents. The first 2 months of Abigail's life were very hard for me. Throughout that time, Erin and my parents spent countless hours listening to my struggles and encouraging me as a dad. Becoming a parent for the 1st time is the hardest thing that I have done in my life, and it is just so great to have the support I need to do it. Ironically, as I have seen happen so many times in my life, I don't think I would be where I am at in my role as a father today had I not struggled through those first couple of months and I am a better person today because of it.
Taking care of her is still quite the chore, but I have found that more and more time has been spent playing with and interacting with her verses doing work to simply maintain life. For the most part, she spends her days being very happy.
The past couple of weeks have been a lot of fun. She has gotten much louder with her noises and at times seems to be yelling at us. She can now grab onto objects that are either handed to her or placed near her and is just beginning to reach for objects held above or in front of her. She has rolled over from her tummy to back a few times when propped up on her teddy bear, but isn't quite there yet when placed flat on her tummy. She can now get her thumb and whole hand up to her mouth whenever she wants and drool is flowing freely.
One thing that Erin and I discussed yesterday is that she seems to be understanding social interaction more. She will turn to look at us when we talk and smiles at us when we walk into the room. When we smile at her she will smile back. She also can tell when we are and aren't paying attention to her and she prefers the former (and lets us know by making loud noises when we aren't paying enough attention to her).
Last Saturday was a BIG day for our family as Abigail was baptized at 4:30 mass. I'm not even sure how to describe how happy it makes me to be raising our daughter in the faith that both Erin and I have been raised in. The Catholic church is an amazing community to be a part of and God's Grace has definitely blessed Abigail since the day she was conceived. I think back at all of the worry and stress that was involved during Erin's final months of pregnancy and through the first couple of days after Abigail was born. All of the things that could have gone wrong but didn't, that was God and work. For her to become a part of our faith family, makes everything seem whole.
To end this entry, I would like to take a moment to thank Erin and both of my parents. The first 2 months of Abigail's life were very hard for me. Throughout that time, Erin and my parents spent countless hours listening to my struggles and encouraging me as a dad. Becoming a parent for the 1st time is the hardest thing that I have done in my life, and it is just so great to have the support I need to do it. Ironically, as I have seen happen so many times in my life, I don't think I would be where I am at in my role as a father today had I not struggled through those first couple of months and I am a better person today because of it.
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