Rolling Over

Penny rolled over today for the first time! I guess she decided if she was going to do it before 2008 came to an end, she had better do it today. Now, I have seen her roll from her tummy to her back before when she is on tummy-time if I helped her by putting her arms just "so" to make it easier for her, but I had never seen her do it on her own. And I had never seen her roll from back to front. But she rolled over onto her tummy all by herself today. We were getting kind of worried since our doctor asked us if she was rolling over at her 4 month appointment and we had to answer no - and she's now well over 5 months old and wasn't doing it until today. So I am pretty excited that she figured it out. Of course, it remains to be seen if she can now roll back over onto her back, but baby steps right? Anyway, here are two pictures of her on her tummy just after she did it.

A Short Christmas Video

I hope everyone had a great Christmas. Ours was incredibly wonderful. We had so much fun with Penny and watching her open presents. She really got the hang of it after a little practice. Here is a video spliced together of some smaller videos I took Christmas morning. The present she is opening is her very first Christmas present - and first experience with wrapping paper. We got her a jumper, but she hasn't figured out how to jump in it yet. Once she does though, I will post a video of it.

Merry Christmas!

May it be full of love and laughter!

Christmas Stocking

I decided to make Penny a stocking to match the Christmas tree skirt I made several years ago. Here is the finished product:



I had intended to make Tray and I stockings to match, but maybe next year. :)

P-P-P-Penny and the Pets

Ok, so I was watching that movie 27 Dresses and you know that part where they sing Benny and the Jets? Well, I had the song stuck in my head for two days afterwards and kept singing it. Penny kept smiling and laughing every time I did it and it took me several times (because I'm slow sometimes) to figure out she thought I was singing P-P-P-Penny. So then I just changed the song to that, and then Tray changed it to Penny and the Pets with actual lyrics - I'll spare you. Anyway, she's been so into the pets recently. She smiles and laughs at Jake through the back door when he looks in. And she is obsessed with Catfish. She got his tail today, but we weren't fast enough with the camera. Poor guy - He is so in for it when she starts to crawl.
Here's a couple pictures of her petting him.

Reaching

Lately Penny has been reaching for things she wants to touch. She doesn't point with her finger but will put out her whole hand/arm in the general direction of whatever it is. It's subtle, and there is no real urgency behind it, but you can tell what she's trying to do. The sweetest thing is she does this to the dogs and the cats. I can usually get Catfish to oblige and come over and let her pet him. The only problem is she grabs great big tufts of fur and pulls. He always jumps, but never lashes back at her. I tell her no and try to show her how to pet gently, but it's hard since she's so young and really doesn't have that level of fine motor skills yet. We're lucky he's such a patient kitty. Beyond the pets though she's been wanting to touch everything I touch. If I happen to be holding her when I go to turn the baby monitor off for example she wants to touch it. Or, she wants to touch the door to the dresser where we keep her clothes, or the door to the dog kennel, or the tv remote or our cell phones - pretty much anything we touch, she wants to touch. And put in her mouth. If I'm folding laundry and put anything down with her arms reach, it very quickly gets unfolded and put in her mouth to be chewed on. I put some saline drops in her nose this morning and she had to explore the bottle from top to bottom. It's just so neat to see because I remember when all she could do was just sort of lay there and look at stuff. And then she could bat at things, but not grab them. And then she could grab things, but not with much intention. Now she can grab things and play with them in both hands and actually purposefully put things in her mouth - not haphazardly, but purposefully. I know it probably doesn't sound like much, but it really is cool. I love watching her grow and change.

Canoe Video

Here's a video of Penny in the canoe yesterday. I had to rotate it to make it vertical and it sort of messed the scale up a bit. I cut the video off at the point at which Jake came and got in her face - but you can see how she's watching him approach before he comes into frame.

Penny in the Canoe

Here are a couple pictures of Penny hanging out in the canoe. She was pretty interested in it, but also very interested in watching what Jake was doing which is what she's looking at in the second picture.

Christmas Trees and Hannah Banana

Yesterday we went out and bought our Christmas tree. We went to the hardware store and got one. It's the only place nearby that has any for sale. I would have liked to go to a tree farm, but the only two I know of down here are kind of far from us. Years ago (and I can say that now that this will be our 9th Christmas together), we used to go out into the woods and just cut down a regular tree. The trees never looks as nice as the "store bought" ones, but the hunt sure is fun. Anyway, the folks at ACE were really nice about getting it ready for us and letting us keep a bunch of limbs to make a wreath out of.

Here's a picture of Penny and me all bundled up:



And here is one of her and Tray:



This is us in front of the tree after I'd gotten the lights on it (I don't know why that job always befalls me). Penny is chewing her new toy that Tray has christened Hannah Banana.

Laughing with Daddy

This video is so funny to me. It literally makes me smile from the inside out. But trust me when I say that this is not even 1/10th of what was going on before I pulled out the camera - Tray got camera shy. No really, this is camera shy. Pre-camera Tray had her in absolute hysterics.



Can you tell why she loves her Daddy so much?

Penny in the Mirror

Here is a video of Penny smiling at herself in the mirror on her activity gym. This is also my first experiment with Windows Movie Maker. I added titles and fadeouts and spliced some different video pieces together. I hope that you enjoy.

Thanksgiving Festivities

Somehow we managed to come away from Thanksgiving without having a picture of Penny on the actual day of Thanksgiving, but here are a couple from my mom's house the day after. Penny has had a stomach virus that started Wednesday and was sick essentially the whole trip (she's gotten a lot better now). Consequently she was out of sorts and was really fussy. She wouldn't let me do anything for her, but as soon as her daddy got a hold of her she would calm right down. This is Tray holding her during a nap. She actually slept for almost an hour (which is like a record for her).



Here is a picture of Tray and me with Penny and my brother Chris.



And finally, even though we didn't get a picture of Penny's first Thanksgiving day, we did get a picture of Penny's first Iron Bowl. So at least we have our priorities straight!

Blowing Raspberries

A few days ago Penny added a new trick to her repertoire. She still sticks her tongue out, but now she sticks it out and blows - sending spit everywhere. She thinks it is so funny, and she does it every time she sees her daddy. What's really great is that she'll initiate it now. It's so amazing to see because she is purposefully trying to interact with us. Yesterday she tried to get her teddy bear to blow a raspberry back and I think she was confused that he wouldn't since Daddy and I always do. Too cute. The other thing that is cute to me is that with her daddy she is very enthusiastic about doing her trick, but with me she does a very serious and thoughtful raspberry, which of course is comical since she's being so serious about it. I truly believe she intends it as a sign of affection.

Four Month Doctor's Visit

Penny had her four month doctor's visit today. She got a clean bill of health and weighs 12 pounds 9 ounces. He also said he thought she was teething (as my mom and Sarah both suggested). So I don't know how long the evening fussies will go on, but somehow knowing what to call it makes it easier to deal with.

Frustrations

The last several nights have been really frustrating - so I'm posting so I can vent. Penny won't go to sleep without a meltdown first. And she won't go to sleep before 11 pm at the earliest. It starts with a nursing strike. She refuses to eat around 7 and starts crying the minute her head hits the boppy - even though she has no problem eating the rest of the day. And a bottle isn't the solution either, because once again, she'll take a bottle at other times of the day but when she's in this mood she won't do it. So, you'd assume she's just not hungry right? But no -she's acting like she's really very hungry, gnawing on everything in sight. So the next assumption is she's too tired to eat and she needs a nap. This seems to be right because we can get her to go to sleep. But she won't stay asleep. The minute you put her down she wakes up crying - and acting hungry, but if you try to feed her she completely melts down. She's too fussy to play with. Nothing makes her happy. It's like she's hungry but too tired to eat and tired but to hungry to sleep, so what do you do? I end up spending my entire evening from 7 until after 11 alternating between trying to feed her and trying to get her to sleep and I end up so tired and having accomplished nothing that I needed to do. I really hope that this is a phase that will end soon, because I was really enjoying it when she was going to sleep at 9 with little or no fuss. I would love to know what changed.

Pet updates

Got to give some love to our pet babies, so here is an update on the furry kids. Catfish had a bad relapse with his eye. It was completely white and dead-looking. Very gross. I took him to the eye doctor in Tally; he drives over from Jax once a week to cure the eye problems of Tallahassee's animals. They scraped his eyeball. Yes, that's right. I said it. Scraped. His eyeball. Now, I've helped out at the vet's office on a few minor surgeries (abscess drainings, stitches/staple removings) and I never get weak in the knees or grossed out. I had to step away from that one. Poor cat - but he didn't flinch or even make a sound. They've said it before, and they said it again, he's a cool cat. Basically his immune system is attacking his cornea as if it is a foreign body. They don't know why. Anyway, we started him on a new topical steroid eyedrop and it has worked wonders.
Mullet is still her wonderful, crotchety old self. Still hopping up onto the fridge and up on the upper cabinets at 18 years old. She's pretty amazing.
Lindy and Jake have been digging the yard to pieces hunting moles, but what can you do? They think they're "helping." They're sweet puppies, and they're really enjoying getting to sleep inside because of the cold weather.

Hot Date

Here's a picture of Penny on her hot date with Arran the week before last. He was very gracious and let her sit in his bouncy seat - such a gentleman.

Sun Hat

Here is a picture of Penny standing on the tailgate in a cute yellow sun hat - with her pants rolled up because they're still a little big.

Hold Your Head Up

I forgot one development when I posted this morning. She's been able to hold her head up for awhile now, but we noticed she's able to hold it up in a seated position recently. She sat like this in her boppy for several minutes this morning. Check it out (and yes, I do need coordinated bedding):

A Week of Learning

The past few days have been truly amazing. Penny has learned so many new "tricks" in just the last two days or so. It's like she just made a huge leap forward all of a sudden. I'm going to try to list a few things she has started doing:

Belly Laughing. I know I have mentioned her belly laughs in previous posts. Well, she seemed to sort of put that aside to develop her hand dexterity. She laughed for a few days, and then no more for awhile while her grasping abilities took off. The last two or three days though have seen a dramatic increase in the belly laughs. The thing that I've noticed gets the most laughs right now is to put your face right up against hers and if you do this with sound effects, so much the better. The video I posted with the bear showed her smiling and giggling a little bit, but now she actually laughs.

Here is a video of her laughing. It still doesn't quite capture the full-on belly laugh, but it comes close.



Kicking. One day last week we had dinner at our friends' house. They have a baby boy who was born the week after Penny. I was struck by the fact that he seemed to notice his feet and play with his socks, etc. As far as I know Penny is not aware that she has feet. :) Anyway, starting the day before yesterday, but really getting going yesterday she is pulling both of her knees up to her chest and kicking her feet up in the air. I saw her almost roll over doing this yesterday. Also, we gave her a bath last night and she starting kicking just a little bit in the bath water. I think she is figuring out that her legs and feet can do cool stuff too.

Here's a video showing her kicking her legs up. It's really more of a video showing how she can grasp toys now, but it does show her legs pretty well too.



Standing up. The girl wants to stand. If you pull on her hands to pull her up into a seated position she now sticks her feet up underneath her and pulls on up to standing. She won't let you stop at sitting. And you can feel her do it too. I don't pull her up to standing - she does it completely by herself. And I'll just lightly hold her under her arms. She stands there and looks around and if it weren't for the balance issue, she could completely stand there by herself. A lot of times now if she's fussy laying down or sitting we stand her up and she settles down. She thinks it is great fun to see the world from this perspective. I was in the kitchen cooking - stirring green beans - and Tray stood her up on the counter across the kitchen. She watched me stir those green beans and laughed and laughed (of course I made an exaggerated show of it).

Tummy time. I've been trying to work with Penny in learning to roll over. I push her over from her back onto her tummy without moving her arm out from under her so that it is easier for her to roll back onto her back. But she has had enough of that game and almost as soon as I get her rolled over, she pulls her arm out from under her and props herself up on her arms and looks around for the longest time. She used to get tired of being on her tummy rather quickly, but now she can stay there for a long time - and that's just been in the last two days or so as well.

Sticking her tongue out. This is daddy's doing. He read in a book that babies will imitate your facial expressions, including sticking your tongue out. So he had to try it. Sure enough she'll copy you sticking your tongue out. But now she won't stop. Yesterday morning she woke up and looked at me and stuck her tongue out. The child is a nut. It's been fun to watch though because you can tell she's trying to figure out when this behavior is appropriate (if you can call sticking your tongue out appropriate) and when it isn't. It's like she tries it a different times to see what our reaction will be. Also, I laid her down on the changing table to change her diaper and she stuck her tongue out at me with such a mischievous look on her face. It caught me off guard and was so funny that I starting laughing very heartily. She started laughing and seemed so pleased that she had made me laugh. It was like she was proud that she had made a joke instead of me making her laugh.



Other developments. These aren't necessarily her things, just stuff that's been happening. She's started drooling in the last week, so now we put bibs on her to keep her shirts dry. She has on a lamb bib in the photo above. Her sleep has been kind of weird too. At about 8 weeks she started sleeping consistently from midnight until 7. Gradually she started going to bed earlier and earlier so that eventually she went to bed at 11 and sometimes 1030. Right about the time of the time change she started going to bed at 10. Then the time changed and that became 9 and then she started going to sleep at 830. Well, the last week she has reverted back to going to sleep at 10. I don't know why. She had dropped that last evening feeding so that she was eating 6 times a day instead of 7, but now it seems like she wants that 7th feeding again. Maybe that accounts for all the development listed above?

Anyway, we are having so much fun with our little peanut. She's a hoot - laughing and smiling all the time. She doesn't cry very much at all anymore, only when she is sleepy but doesn't want to go to sleep. :)

Silly Old Bear

This is me acting the fool trying to get Penny to laugh. I discovered after the fact that the bear has nothing to do with it. She could hear the sound I was making as I played the video back on the computer, and even though she couldn't see the screen, she started laughing at the sound. Go figure. Oh - and be forewarned, the sound is pretty obnoxious. :)

The Fair!

On Sunday we went to the North Florida Fair. Here is a picture of my knitted afghan - I won first place! I've been (inconsistently) working on the thing for at least as long as we've been in Tallahassee, and finally managed to finish it up just in time to enter it into the fair. It is folded up for display, but it is big enough to cover a full-size bed I think. I haven't laid it out on a bed yet to check because I literally finished it on the day of the deadline to enter it.



This is a picture of Tray and Penny at the petting zoo in front of some goats. I tried to convince him to let us take the stroller, but he wanted to carry her, so he did. She fell asleep not too long after this, but she did seem to think the goats were neat.

Christmas Q&A

Ok, so this is a list of questions from my sister-in-law's blog and I am answering them here. The theme of her post was handmade gifts, so my answers have that bent.

Gifts
1. Do you have a favorite gift that you love to give?

I have a few friends that wait all year to get a jar or two of my apple jelly. I love giving it because it is easy to make, and they are so appreciative.

2. If you’re making gifts this year, what are you making? (Post photos if you have some, and if the recipients won’t find out via your post!)

I don't think I will make much this year. No knitted gifts for sure (no time any more), but I will probably still make some apple jelly and maybe give some of the muscadine jelly I already have.

3. Do you have any good stories about handcrafted gifts you’ve given or received?

Handcrafted gifts are funny things. I feel like most people think they are neat, but then wonder where their "real" present is. One year I made bath salts at a cost of approx. $15-$20 per person but the impression I got from people's reactions was that I was being cheap in only giving bath salts. So, I kind of feel like handmade gifts are "extras" to go with an "actual" gift. But, I don't feel that way about receiving them myself.

4. Do you have any great gift compilation ideas (a grouping of gifts just perfect for certain recipients?)

As I mentioned above, I have some friends who like my jelly, so sometimes I make kind of a gift basket with several jars - perhaps of different types. And maybe put some homemade cookies in to. I think our bees need to build up for another year, but we'll probably start adding honey as well.

5. Name one thing on your personal wish list.

Hmm, well, there are a bunch of kitchen things I need/want.

Traditions
1. What is your favorite family Christmas tradition?

Putting up the Christmas tree the weekend after Thanksgiving. Oh, and my grandmother's cookies.

2. Have you started any new traditions with your family that you didn’t practice growing up?

Not really. I guess the only thing that is different is we sometimes open gifts at different times of the day now depending on when everybody can make it home. We used to always open gifts on Christmas morning.

3. How are you teaching your children (if you have them) what the REAL meaning of Christmas is?

As an anthropologist there are lots of ways I could answer this question, but I would start by saying that whatever your meaning is, it is no less real than any one else's.

4. Name one way that you are able to keep the focus on Christ during Christmas (attending special church services, family Bible story readings, etc.).

I try to keep the focus on family and friends by getting together.

5. What do you love most about the holiday season?

Cookies.

6. What do you like least about the holiday season?

The shopping crowds.

7. What is your favorite holiday food?

Hmm. It's hard to pick just one. I'll go with my grandmother's pecan sandies.

8. Do you have a great recipe to share?

Sausage Balls:
1 lb. hot sausage (Jimmy Dean)
2 c. bisquik
1 c. grated sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 c. water

Cook the sausage, drain, and then mix everything together. Form into balls and bake on a greased cookie sheet at 400-450 degrees (depending on your stove) for 12-15 minutes or until brown. May be frozen and reheated.

Dinosaur Kisses

Penny has started being able to hold on to stuffed animals. Here she is with her dinosaur. I took a bunch of pictures and it was hard to just pick one or two for the blog - she was so cute. I tried to pick a couple that really showed how she was holding onto it. She has a little teddy bear that is a bit smaller than the dinosaur and softer. She can really get a hold of it. It's really neat to watch her development because just a week or two ago she could not have done this.

Rock the Vote

Today Penny and I went to the polls and voted. She rode in her snugli on my front as I cast my ballot and she smiled at everyone who came into view. Here's a photo from after we got home. She's wearing a onesie that my friend Kelly painted for her and her new cargo pants her Daddy bought her.

Overalls

Daddy went shopping for himself some clothes - and came home with a bag of baby clothes that he "couldn't resist" (haven't we all been there?). He bought me these way cool overalls and shirt. The overalls have a raccoon on them and say "little explorer". Admittedly, overalls aren't exactly slimming, but mommy thinks I look adorable in them.

Dexterity

The parrot's wings make crinkle noises and up until now we had to crinkle them for her - but now she can crinkle them herself! Check out how big her eyes are. She gets the same look after Tray gets her with the pooty-monster (blowing raspberries on her tummy). She's pretty excited about her new trick.

Halloween

Nobody trick-or-treats in our neighborhood and it's pretty far to drive into town to do anything else, so we had a rather conservative observance. Penny dressed as a black cat and we carved a jack-o-lantern, which she thought was pretty neat.

Carter's Clothing

I don't know if everyone has seen the news article about certain tagless labels on Carter's clothing causing rashes in some children, but it turns out that Penny is one of them. Some of her newborn size clothes had those labels and some days she would get this bright red spot on her neck. I thought I was somehow rubbing her neck raw by the way I was carrying her. I couldn't figure out though why it would be there some days and not others. Sometimes it looked more rash like so I thought maybe it was a heat rash (it was August after all) and that's why it would come and go. Also, it would go away when I washed her face and neck off adding further support to my heat rash theory. But, once I found out about the labels causing rashes, I am pretty sure that is what was going on. She'd have it the days she wore those clothes and not on the days she wore clothes of another brand - and of course it would go away when I washed her off. So anyway, I wrote the company because I have several items of clothing in the 3-6 months size that she is about to start wearing. They are going to send me a postage-paid envelope to mail everything back and get a full refund. I'm glad they are doing that, but also upset when I think about her having that allergic reaction and the whole time I thought it was something I was doing to her. :(

Laughter vs. Squealing

Ok, so Penny still hasn't quite figured the whole laughter thing out yet. She has laughed a few more times, but now is just as likely to squeal. It's kind of high pitched. Catfish stopped by to say hello to her and she squealed and you could tell it hurt his ears. Poor kitty. But, Tray is still the most likely person to get a laugh out of her. She finds him enormously entertaining. I think the feeling is mutual.

Pumpkin

Our little pumpkin at the pumpkin patch last week. She was hot and was fighting a nap so she doesn't look overly thrilled, but still cute I think.

Laughter Redux

Tonight I was holding Penny as I walked around the living room. Tray came and said hi to her over my shoulder. She started laughing and since I was holding her I could feel her laughter as well as hear it. It made me laugh and I think that she could feel me laughing and it perpetuated the cycle. It was so cute - such a grown-up big kid kind of laugh. We're thinking she's figuring out the whole laughing thing just like she did with smiling, so that in a few days she should be laughing all the time. I hope so. It's hilarious.

Photo Preview

To see a preview of pictures from Penny's photography session the other day, go to longsphotographyblog.com. I think her pictures look great. I can't wait to see them all. She's so pretty!

Laughter

A few nights ago we were giving Penny a bath and she laughed for the first time. I mean, she's giggled before but this was a real honest-to-goodness belly laugh. And then she stopped and looked all serious like nothing had just happened. It was very comical. We haven't replicated it yet, but it sure was a nice sound to hear her laughing like a big kid. It's amazing, but I almost don't think of her as a baby anymore. She has such a personality and is so much her own person. I think of her like she used to be a baby but now she isn't. Isn't that strange?

Supermodel

Today is Penny's three month birthday! I can't believe she's three months old already. It's insane! Anyway, today we took her to have some professional photography done. She cried pretty much the whole way there - she hates and I mean hates carseats. But, once we got there I fed her and then we settled her in for the photos. She was such a supermodel. She never so much as frowned. In fact, it looked like she was having the time of her life. She was totally eating it up. We'll get to go in to see the photos in a couple weeks so I'm sure we'll be posting a link to them in the future. We took some photos in a green flowery onesie and then some in a purple skirted onesie and then a bunch of nudie shots (scandalous!). Anyway, stay tuned because she was such a cutie.

Conversations

A couple weeks ago Penny started doing the cutest thing - having conversations with me. She is so serious about it too. She sits there and looks in my face and talks to me. Of course I have no idea what she is saying because it is all just sounds, but it is like she is really trying to tell me something. And sometimes I think she gets frustrated because I am not understanding. She had a really long conversation with me last night. Tray saw it and he says she was trying to tell me she loves me. I don't know, but that sounds sweet doesn't it? :)

Catfish Update

The vet visit on Thursday (yesterday) went great. Catfish's eye ulcerations have completely healed. Consequently we can cut back on the number of eye drops we give him. I am so happy things are looking up.

Catfish

In other Earnest family news, Catfish's eye is doing better. He got an eye infection as a result of a normally occurring virus that got out of control due to stress (likely because of all the changes with the new baby). The infection got bad enough that his eye became ulcerated - he had 3 ulcers on it. The vet said he was not quite at the tipping point to losing his eye but if we didn't act he would soon be there. So, for almost a month now we've been giving him 3 different eye drops 10 minutes apart 4 times a day. Two weeks ago we had a check up and the ulcers are much better, but I have to say that his eye still looks awful. At that time we got a fourth eye drop to give him twice a day. I also put some powder stuff on his food in the morning and at night. He has another check up on Thursday, so I hope it will be significantly better. He's such a good kitty though. He never minds having to have eye drops. He's the coolest cat I've ever met, and the vet's all think so too. :)

Today's Musical Selection...

...was Creedence Clearwater Revival. Two minutes into "Susie Q" and she was out like a light.

Shots

Penny got her shots today at her two month checkup. It was SO awful. She cried and cried like I have never seen her cry before. I wanted to do anything to make her feel better. It was just awful.

However, the rest of the visit went great. She now weighs 10 lbs 3 oz and the doctor says we can now put to rest any concern about her being too small. She's growing like a weed. And, she laughed and smiled at the nurses and the doctor while he was examining her (that was before the shots of course). In fact, that made the shots even harder on me because she had seemed so happy before. Oh, I had my heart broken today. But, she probably doesn't even remember it now. I sure do though.

Bluegrass Rules!

After reading about my nephew Owen's 80's Dance Party the other night I felt compelled to report on P's own musical preferences. When she as about 5 weeks old I was listening to my IPod at night to help me stay awake during the middle of the night feedings and I noticed that it seemed like she could hear the music coming out of my ear buds. I started bouncing her along to the beat of the music (after she was done eating of course) - whatever I happened to be listening to at the time - and I noticed that she seemed to like some things better than others. She liked anything with a good dance beat to it, Outkast, Maroon 5, etc., but not so much James Blunt or Lauren Hill. But I noticed that she especially liked this Ricky Skaggs CD "Ancient Tones", and more particularly the faster bluegrass songs on it. So, now I play the CD on the dvd player in the living room if she gets fussy and "dance" with her. If she's fussing because she's tired, she stops crying within 20 seconds and usually goes to sleep in under 5 minutes. It's hilarious. I think it is really funny too that they market all this really slow quiet classical and new age music for babies, but Penny doesn't really appreciate any of that. It has to be loud and fast to have any effect. Kids these days. :)

Sleeping Through the Night!

Penelope has now slept through the night every night since Tuesday, Sept. 16. She goes to bed at midnight and sleeps until 730. It's like clockwork. She almost always wakes up sometime around 4 am, but only stirs around and grunts a bit. I ignore her and she puts herself back to sleep. I'm very glad she is able to do that - and incredibly grateful that she sleeps through the night now. And now that she gets up at roughly the same time every morning, her daytime is starting to work itself into a schedule too. Well, her feedings are roughly the same time everyday, but she still doesn't nap with any regularity.

Also, Penny turned 2 months old yesterday, and 9 weeks today. So, happy birthday baby!

Growing

As I mentioned before I'm trying to use only cloth diapers and get away from the disposables. I wanted to do that from the beginning, but with all the other stresses that arose in the first weeks I found disposables to be easier. It was a cop out because cloth diapers are very easy too but I was too stressed and sleep deprived to give it much of a try. Now things are going well but I still find myself using disposables at night. I am going to try to move away from doing that too. I was worried there wouldn't be enough absorbency during a 6 hours stretch of sleep, but I've noticed that she doesn't really go to the bathroom overnight, so I think there shouldn't be a problem.

Anyway, the newborn size disposable diapers were getting too small. They still fit, but I thought they were getting tighter and tighter. So, we moved up to size 1s last night. Only they are HUGE. I have to pull the tabs in on top of each other just to remotely make them fit. It'd be nice if there was some kind of transition size between the newborn and size 1s. Luckily the cloth ones fit great so I guess that's further motivation to get into using them exclusively.

Another Good Night's Sleep

Yesterday Penny took two fifteen minute naps - the one I mentioned about 4 o'clock and then again about 730. Otherwise she was pretty much awake from the time she woke up in the morning until almost midnight. I didn't really realize babies could go so long without sleeping, but apparently some babies sleep more or less than others.

Anyway, she slept from midnight until about 630 this morning. I let her lay in her bassinet and grunt for a bit so that I didn't actually feed her until about 645. Then she and I went back to sleep at about 8 and slept until 10. We feel luxurious this morning. She's so happy and active. She's been smiling up a storm and playing with all her toys. She's really "talking" up a storm too - making all kinds of sounds. That's what a good night's sleep will do for you.

End of Days?

I don't think the Bible mentions mosquitoes, but I know there was something about frogs. After TS Fay came through, our next door neighbor's backyard had about 3 feet of standing water (all the surrounding yards slope off down into theirs). Last week we had a plague of mosquitoes. They were so bad there were literally black clouds of them. Thirty or forty would get in the house every time we opened the door to just scoot inside. Once inside it was like being in some kind of B-horror movie with swarms of them on the doors and windows. Anyway, the mosquitoes have now been replaced by frogs. There are (no exaggeration) thousands of them in our yard. These little guys scramble frantically from underfoot if you try to walk anywhere. The yard looks like a moving sea of frogs.

P.S. In a follow up to the previous post, Penny did in fact only sleep 15 minutes. Whatever. I'm sure she'll sleep eventually. Of course I have the luxury of saying that now that I've had a good night's sleep. :)

We're All Smiles

Ok. I was hesitant to post this because I thought it might be a fluke, but Penny slept through the night last night and the night before last! The night before last (Wednesday) she slept from midnight until 7 am, and last night she slept from about 1130 until 550. So, so nice. Now, if we could convince her to take naps. After she woke up at 10 til 6 this morning, she hasn't gone back to sleep at all until just now (almost 4). Here's hoping she stays asleep longer than 10 minutes. The girl is amazing at taking power naps. She'll be exhausted and you finally get her to go to sleep for a nap and she sleeps 10 minutes and is good to go for another 5 hours. Wish I could do that. :)

Additionally, cloth diapering is going well. I finally figured out that I hadn't washed the diapers enough to get the cotton residue off so they weren't as absorbent as they should be. Now, I've had more leaks with the disposables than I've had with the cloth ones. I'm glad it is starting to work out.

And in other news, Penny smiled at her daddy this morning. So we are (literally) all smiles around here.

First Smiles

This morning I fed Penny at about 7 am and I let her sit upright for 20 minutes afterwards like usual to keep her reflux from being so bad. Well, this morning I was tired so I fell asleep with her on me. At some point when she started wiggling I laid her down next to me and dozed off again for 5 minutes or so. When I woke up and opened my eyes she was staring at me. And then she smiled! A real, genuine smile. It was the most awesome thing I have ever seen. Suddenly I wasn't so tired any more! :)

Carrier

On another exciting front - Tray and I received two front carriers (Snugli brand) from our friend Kelly. She's having twins and people are giving her all sorts of things. She wound up with four carriers (and I believe already had one from her first daughter), so she was very generous and gave us two of them - one for me and one for Tray. We plan to cook them dinner sometimes after the babies are born to reciprocate.
Anyway, I love my new Snugli. Yesterday I had my six-week postpartum visit (which went great by the way) and tried to carry her in her car seat. I will NEVER, EVER, EVER do that again. My arms were about to fall off. I was literally shaking and almost in tears by the time I made it back to my car after the appointment. Why they make those things so heavy I have no idea. You'd have to be a bodybuilder to carry her, and Penny isn't that heavy!
I have a Hotsling which I have used, but only when she was already asleep. She doesn't much like laying horizontally and she can't really see out of it and it is kind of small, so if she is awake she will protest about being in it (to put it mildly). However, I have used this Snugli yesterday all through her afternoon/evening fussy period to great effect and she is in it now as I type.
Kelly said her Baby Bjorn was probably the single most useful thing she had with her first daughter - even more so than a crib, and I could see that being true. When P is fussy I can just pop her in the Snugli and do my thing. Even if she continues fussing, at least she is fussing hands-free! :)

Sleeping Update

The trend has continued. Last night she went back to only three hour intervals - nothing any longer - but she did still go back to sleep every time. I think maybe it will get a little better as she gets older and works out a daytime rhythm too. I'd like to set a regular bedtime, but right now that last feeding before I put her "to bed" can be any time from 730 until 930 or 10. Sometimes she'll go four hours from that point and sometimes only 2 and 1/2 or 3 and then go four hours from that feeding. So there is still some irregularity, but I really enjoy sleeping at night even if only for two or (maybe) three hours at a time.

A Trend?

So Penny has actually slept for the last three nights now. I don't mean she has slept through the night. I mean she wakes up, I feed her, and she goes back to sleep. And, she has started going 4 hours between feedings for one of the night feedings (you count from the start of one feeding to the start of the next). To give you an example, last night I fed her at ~9:30. The whole process - fifteen minutes each side, burping after each, and then holding her upright for 10-15 minutes - takes about an hour. So she went down just before 10:30. I then ate supper and was asleep myself by 11:30. She woke up and I fed her again at 1:30. This means I got 2 whole hours of consecutive sleep. But wait, there's more! I fed her at 1:30 which means she and I went back to sleep at 2:30 and slept until 4:30! Two more hours of sleep. In the SAME night. How awesome is that? Seriously, prior to these last few days I was lucky to get 45 minutes to an hour of sleep in any three hour sleep/feeding cycle. And many cycles, I got none at all because she stayed up the whole three hours through to the next feeding. The hard part was I could never predict which cycle she would sleep and which she wouldn't which just added to my stress over when I would get any sleep. And then there were those times when she never went to sleep at all for twelve to fifteen hours straight. There's a reason sleep deprivation is a form of torture.
Anyway, last night she didn't really ever go back to sleep between the 430 and 730 feedings, but that's ok. Tray took her at 830 and I slept until the 1030 feeding. So two more hours. Yes, that makes 6 hours of sleep for me in one day. I actually feel semi-rested. It's very nice. I hope I don't jinx myself, but I hope this keeps up. I think it will though. As she gets older she'll keep getting better and better I think. I hope. :)

To the point of hilarity

Seriously, how can a 5 week old stay awake for 15 hours straight? Penny woke up at 4 am yesterday morning and did not go back to sleep until 740. At which time she slept for 20 minutes and woke up again at 8 to be fed (it was time). Craziness. However, after she ate she did sleep last night. She didn't sleep "through the night", but did sleep on a regular three hour schedule.
During her epic stay-awake episode Tray and I tried everything to get her to sleep. The swing, the bouncy seat, the sling, holding her, rocking her, bouncing her, letting her play on the gym, playing soothing music, white noise, attempting the pacifier, etc. All of these things "worked" in that they calmed her down and made her happy, but she still wouldn't go to sleep. It was like she wasn't even remotely tired. You'd have thought she would have passed out from shear exhaustion at some point right? But no, she wasn't tired. I sure was though. :) Imagine 15 hours straight of the above activities after having gotten the usual paltry amount of sleep the night before and you get the idea.
So question - how I am supposed to schedule her naps if she won't take naps??

Rain Totals

Well, just after I posted that last post our power went out. It is now back on thankfully. Also just after that post we spoke with our next door neighbors. At that time they had over 13 inches in their gauge which confirmed our suspicion that our gauge was not reflecting the real amount. An official city gauge north of our neighborhood has gotten over 15 inches, so that's probably pretty close to what we've gotten so far. No word on when our road will reopen, but it will probably be some time before things dry out enough - and it is still raining off and on.

Rain Update

We've now had 8 1/2 inches in our rain gauge. We think this is an underestimate of rain. I would guess we've had more like 10 inches. They are forecasting between 16 and 20 inches of rain for us. Streets are closed all over town according to the Tallahassee Democrat website. It's pretty crazy.

Trapped

Well, TS Fay has dropped 7 inches on us so far and we are just now starting to get into the heavy rain. Selena Road (the only way in to our neighborhood) is under water and has been officially closed. EOC has determined an emergency route out, but they are not publicizing it - if you have to get out, you have to call EOC and they will assist you. So, it looks like we are stuck here for awhile. Not that we had plans to go anywhere anyway, but it is nerve-wracking to be stuck with a new baby. She doesn't seem to mind though. :)

Sleep? And my thoughts on scheduling.

Does anyone out there know what sleep is like? Can you help me to remember? Seriously, Penny woke up at 1045 last night and did not go back to sleep until 8 am. At which point she actually slept a little bit longer than normal such that I got almost 3 hours of uninterrupted sleep. That's the most I've had in a month. Everyone says you can't put a baby on a schedule until they are 2 months of age - it just isn't neurologically possible. But, our pediatrician said that by about 2 months she should put herself on a schedule so I should see evidence of her moving toward that over the next month. I can't wait! Actually, I think last night (and today) she is having a growth spurt. She has eaten at least every two hours (with the exception of that "long" stretch this morning). It's frustrating, but right now it is very important to listen to her cues and feed her when she gets hungry. Trying to feed her on a schedule would not only be dangerous given her small size and how easily she could fall off the growth curve (and we don't want her to go below that 10th percentile mark) and also during a growth spurt it is important to feed frequently because it stimulates my milk supply to increase. I know that a lot of you out there feel differently about scheduling, but I assure you I am a very rational person and the science indicates that babies under two months can't be scheduled - and can't be spoiled. As for the book "On Becoming Babywise" I recommend that people read the American Academy of Pediatrics position on that book. A summary can be found here: http://www.ezzo.info/Aney/aneyaap.htm
I don't have anything against the book per se, but it is certainly not meant for babies Penny's age.

On the flip side, "The Happiest Baby on the Block" is awesome! I highly recommend it. So many people recommended that book and dvd, including our baby class instructor. I finally bought the dvd and it is so great. Whenever Penny is crying Tray and I can usually make her stop in a matter of seconds. Not always, but I would say the majority of the time. It doesn't necessarily make her sleep, but it will make her stop crying. It's amazing.

Three Week Checkup

Today was Penny's three week check up with the pediatrician. She now weighs 6 lbs 15 ounces! Hurray! She is still in the 10th percentile for weight (again meaning that 90 percent of all other girl babies her age are bigger than she is), but has maintained her position on the growth curve which is what the doctor really cares about. He says we are doing a great job and to keep up the good work. He was very enthusiastic about how well she is doing. I feel a lot better knowing she is a healthy baby. I laughed and told the doctor that I wished we could go once a week just because I always feel better after we go. He laughed too. :)

Hotsling

Here is a picture of Penny in her sling. Today I walked all around the yard with her in the sling. It was great.

Vanity :)

Penelope discovered her reflection in the mirror of her activity gym. I don't think she knows she is looking at herself, but she sure seems to enjoy looking at that "other baby".

First Bath

Penny had her first at home bath on Wednesday. She really seemed to enjoy it. I gave her another one yesterday and she doesn't seem to mind it at all. She likes to look at herself in the mirror.

Belly Button!

Penelope's umbilical cord fell off on Tuesday. Here is a photo of her brand new belly button!

Penny Update

Today Penelope and I went to a breastfeeding support group. I'd promised our pediatrician that I would go. He said to take her and have her weighed there instead of having her come in to be weighed at his office and having to pay another copay. Seemed sensible to me. Anyway, we went and Penny now weighs 5 lbs 14 ounces! So, she's gaining weight and I know I'm feeding her ok. That's a relief.

A Video Message from Penelope

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Eating!

Just when Mommy was starting to worry again, I was up all night eating every hour or so. Mommy couldn't believe it - and is very tired! I also stayed awake for almost two hours without going to sleep at all. Mommy didn't know what to do with me since I've never really been awake before when I wasn't eating. She ultimately decided to just hold me and enjoy my silly facial expressions.

Just for Uncle Chris...

I wore my Auburn hat a little bit today (Sunday).

Day 5

Five days old and starting to get more alert for small periods of time. She had her eyes open while Tray got her dressed this morning. So cute.

Doctor's Visit

Well, aside from what I have already written on the topic, P's first doctors visit went well. As I said before she weighs 5 lbs 10 ounces. She is not at all jaundiced. Here is a picture of her at the lactation consultant's after the doctors visit. She had on little duck socks too, but they kept falling off I guess because they are too big. She just put her hands up under her chin like that all by herself. Everyone laughed and laughed and we had to take her picture. Everyone we meet says she looks like a little baby doll and I agree.

Visiting

Our pediatrician today said that we should not have visitors for at least two weeks and then after that only if the person visiting is completely healthy. He also recommended keeping visits short (as in an hour or so). He said it was okay if he had to be the bad guy, but he wants to minimize the chances Penny will get sick. She is a firecracker, but admittedly not the strongest baby just yet so we apologize for the inconvenience, but we want to make sure to do what is best for her.

Turning a Corner...

Thank you to everyone who has sent us congratulations on our new arrival. She is such a blessing and a joy.
The last few days have been quite a challenge. She has been almost impossible to feed. She sleeps all the time and does not wake on her own to eat. We have to wake her, but many times we are unable to or unable to keep her awake long enough to eat. We have met with a lactation consultant several times and tried all advise to no avail. Today was quite a busy day between a morning consultation at the hospital with the lactation specialist, a visit to her pediatrician, and another visit to the lactation office. She has only lost 6 ounces, down to 5 lbs 10 ounces, and maintained that weight since leaving the hospital. So, she isn't starving, but it has been a monumental task to keep her fed that much. Anyway, today I and her doctor believe she has turned a corner. She actually cried to let me know she was hungry! She more than cried. She squalled! It was the most joyful sound - and then she actually ate for almost 10 minutes! She also did reasonably well at this evening's feeding even though I did have to wake her up. The doctor and the lactation consultant both feel that now that my milk is in, she will continue to do better. I feel such a sense of relief and feel as though I too have turned a corner. Instead of feeling a constant overwhelming anxiety, I know find myself not knowing what to do because she has been fed and I now have two hours until the next feeding. I don't have to spend the next hour and a half trying to get her to eat only to start all over again in thirty minutes. It's like I have actual free time to do stuff like you know sleep. :) AND for the first time since she was born I have been flooded with joy at her arrival and how incredibly blessed we are to have her. I can actually enjoy her being here and it is just such a wonderful feeling.

Sleepy Baby

She's a keeper. :)

Little Angel

Words cannot express this day. We are blessed with our little Penelope Leigh Earnest. She was born at 3:07 pm (yesterday, 7/21), weighed 6lbs even, and is 19 in. long. The doctors all said she was totally normal for her age, and she has been poked and proded by all the experts and deemed to be completely healthy. The world is a different place today in such a wonderful way. Dad.

Labor Day

Well here we are in the Baby Hilton. Sam is eating tasty crushed ice and waiting on the little one to come visit. We are very excited, but also rather sleepy. Sam is watching the Price Is Right and wishing she could bid on a Dodge Charger. The baby's heartbeat is plugging away in the background. I could use a big BBQ sandwich about now (then a nap :) ). Think I'll go check out the hospital cafe before things get too intense. Note to self: bring bbq sandwich next time.

Still Waiting....

Well, it is now Saturday evening and still no baby. I had really hoped not to have to induce. I know we still have the rest of today and tomorrow, but I kind of doubt it is going to happen at this point. Oh well - a healthy, happy baby is all that matters. I don't know how long labor will take after the induction starts, but hopefully we will meet our little one sometime Monday afternoon or evening. (Here's hoping it doesn't go on into Tuesday!) We'll keep you all posted.

Baby Update

Our doctor's visit yesterday was interesting to say the least. We started out having an ultrasound to do a biophysical profile (BPP) of the baby to make sure our little one was still doing ok in there. We had a positive score and it looks like the baby is still happy. If anything had been wrong we would have probably induced labor yesterday. But that did not happen even though we were semi-prepared for it in case.

The subsequent cervical examination showed that I am 2 cm dilated and 70% effaced and the baby's head is low at 0 station. The doctor thinks we could go at any day now. I feel fine now though so I think it might be a while yet. So, I just wanted to let people know and we will give everyone a call once the baby is born.

Tray's Accomplishment

Tray won 1st place at yesterday's 3D archery shoot in the Men's Longbow division. I am so proud and happy for him. Here is a picture of his trophy.

The Nursery!

Baby Clothes

Isn't it amazing how your baby ends up with more clothes than you have? Seriously, I don't know if our baby will ever wear them all, but they sure are cute. Every time I open up this drawer and see all the cute clothes it makes me smile. The colors are exactly what we want and it just makes me happy. So, I thought I would share a picture for others to enjoy. Stay tuned for nursery pictures to follow.

July 8 Doctor Appointment

Well, we had our baby weight ultrasound today. The results are in: 5 lbs, 11 oz. This is in the 12th percentile for gestational age - down from 20th at the last ultrasound a month ago. From the numbers I saw on the ultrasound screen the baby is now more like two weeks behind instead of one. BUT - The baby is still moving a lot and there is adequate amniotic fluid, so with three weeks to go we are not concerned. We got to see the baby doing "practice breathing" on the ultrasound. This is good news as for the lungs. Oh - and the baby has hair! The technician showed it to us floating in the fluid next to the head. So cool. Guess that explains all the heartburn (isn't that how the wives tale goes?).
We are pretty excited to meet our little one. We went to Target today after the appointment to finish out our registry purchases. We got our baby monitor, which I for one can't wait to play with. Walkie-talkies are fun.

Last Day

Today was my last day at work before I start maternity leave. I have a lot of mixed feelings about it. I am glad to have a chance to rest, but I get a lot of comments insinuating that taking off three weeks before my due date is wasting my leave. I personally think it is important to rest up before the baby though, because resting is not something I'll be doing for quite some time I imagine.
I also don't think it is wasteful. I can take up to 6 months under the state's Parental Leave policy. Of course, that's all unpaid and doesn't come with the same guarantees that the Family Medical Leave Act provides (although FMLA is also unpaid and is only for 12 weeks). I don't qualify for FMLA since I haven't been working there for a year. I don't think my job is in danger of being given away though, so I'm not that worried about the guarantee part. It's just that I am currently scheduled to start back in November and I also get comments wondering why I am planning to stay out so long! That's only 4 months - how is that too long? I guess because it's longer than the usual 12 weeks. Actually, the agreement I have with my boss is November or December, but I've been telling everyone November simply because they get so shocked when I say that, I don't think they could handle it if I said December. :)
Oh well, you do what you have to do. Since today was my last day, I don't have to put up with the questions anymore anyway. Another reason why going on leave now is good for my health!

July 1 Doctors Appointment

We had our 36 week appointment this morning. Everything looks good. I was tested last week for Group B strep and found out today that I do not have it. Also, I was tested today for anemia and I am not anemic either. So, yay!

On another note, I've had a stomach bug since Thursday and am finally starting to feel like myself again. My pregnant self anyway. The doctor says it doesn't hurt the baby for me to be sick like that unless I get dehydrated (which I am not), so I feel better about it.

Next week we have an ultrasound to check the baby's weight.

In other news, I am working part-time this week. This will save me from having to use any accrued leave to keep my insurance for July. It is very tiring though - especially given the aforementioned stomach bug. I look forward to being able to stay home and work just as hard, only on household projects and my dissertation. No rest for the weary. Kidding! I rest a lot. :)

Baby Blanket

My mom crocheted this beautiful baby blanket. I had to show it off.

Diapers!

Some of my cloth diapers came! They are so cute. I am using prefolds with diaper covers. As you can see, the diaper covers work pretty much the same as disposable diapers - only you can use them again. The photo below is a diaper cover with a prefold inside. I left one of the velcro tabs unhooked to try to show how it works.

I've done a ton of research into the topic and I am very excited about it. (Well, as excited as one can get about poopy diapers.) I also got some cloth diaper wipes, but the picture that had those in it too didn't come out well. These are all "infant" size diapers. I've ordered some "newborn" size too and I can't wait to see those, since they'll be the first ones we get to use.

June 23 Doctors Appointment

Today's doctor's appointment went great. Once again, no real news to report. Everything is pretty much the same as it has been. We scheduled an ultrasound for two weeks from now - sort of a final growth check I suppose.

We can't believe we only have 5 weeks to go!

This week is my last week at work before I start my maternity leave. I am considering working part-time next week though because I feel like I'd be pretty bored at the house. Plus, it's a short week with the holiday and all, so it wouldn't be so bad. And there are a kajillion (ok, maybe 20) cell tower surveys sitting on my desk that need reviewing. So, I guess we'll see. I'm going to talk to my boss about it tomorrow.

June 16 Doctors Appointment

Our doctor's appointment on Monday went great. Nothing new to report as it was just a checkup - but no news is good news right? :)

That night we also had the last of our birthing classes. We got to tour the hospital and we learned a lot. We are getting very excited now!

Crib

We got the crib set up this evening. It was very easy. The woodgrain is gorgeous.