Pony Worthy

This past Wednesday Rowan had her "2 month" check up at the pediatricians'. I don't know how it got scheduled so late but with her turning 12 weeks on Sunday, it is closer to a 3 month appt. I also didn't realize it was not normal to skip a one month appt. That was never brought up at her 1st week appt. They just said, see you back in 2 months. Yet when I talked with all my friends who had babies around the same time, they all went in for a one month appt. Oh well, less trips is fine with me. That just meant we had a big range of guesses as to what she weighed and how long she was. We don't have a scale at our house and have not officially weighed her since the hospital. Matt's guess was 12 lb 1 oz and 27 inches long. My guess was 11 lb 5 oz and 25 inches long. She ended up right in the middle of of weight guesses at 11 lb 11 oz, 5 lbs more than she weighed at birth. Our length guesses were way off. She was 22 and 1/4 in long. I guess we failed to remember we both were very late bloomers. If she is destined to gain some vertical ground and follow her parents' footsteps it probably won't be until high school :)

Dr. Moylan than asked how she was eating, sleeping and doing in general. I told him breastfeeding has been going well, she outgrew what little fussiness she seemed to have during the evening hours and up until this week, she was sleeping from 9-5:30 or so. I stated that we were really grateful for that stretch of sleep, esp since this week she picked back up her 2 am feed again and reminded us what getting up early in the morning was like. The Dr then asked us if we had a backyard, to which we hesitantly responded yes. He then informed Matt that his daughter deserves a pony and he should buy her one to live in our backyard. He was very impressed with her sleeping that amount, even if the 2 am feed comes back in the picture for good. He said he likes to see babies sleeping a stretch at night one more hour than their age in months. Since she is almost 3 months, 4 hours would be a good minimum and she is doing well beyond that which is great. This reassured Matt, who was worried she was sleeping and not eating enough, and reminded me to keep my mouth shut and not jinx the gift she has been giving us.

Last on the appt agenda came the shots.

I have been dreading the shots for a long time. Matt and I started researching a lot about vaccinations while we were pregnant with her still. We read over some books, some research and some online information trying to make an informed decision about what vaccinations Rowan would get. This is a very heated debate out there so searching through information was tedious and seeming biased from both angles. In the end we made our decision and made peace with the fact that whatever decision that was, God would protect and watch out for Rowan regardless. Still, I was a little more nervous than I anticipated I would be. The nurse was quick and Rowan did one of those screams where you turn red in the face but no sound comes out. Then just as the built up cry came out, I was picking her up and soothing her and it was over. She really did great with the actual shots. I was in total mom mode by this point though that all I could think of was getting to a place where I could nurse her and comfort her more. We left the office and it wasn't before we were driving home that the nurse in me realized we were never given a shot record card, VIS forms, list of the vaccinations she received or any info about what to expect with the vaccinations. All we were given was a Tylenol dosing sheet. I was really annoyed by this and annoyed at myself for not thinking to ask. I feel like parents should be given that information automatically, not just if they ask. Rowan didn't get her Hep B shot at birth, maybe if she had they would have given us a shot record card then? Maybe that is totally on the parents to keep track of? I know at work we HAVE to give the Vaccination Information Sheets to parents and we chart in their record after we do so. I thought that at least was mandated. It's just hard being on the mom side and not the provider side. I know next time we go in, they will have record of all that information and we can get it then, but it just annoyed me they let us leave without at least offering that info.

Ok enough with my rant. Overall we like our pediatrician and his nurse and appt went well. It's nice to hear she is doing well and looking healthy from someone else. It eases those first time parenting nerves. Our next appt is in Nov, right around the time we announced to our families that we were pregnant with her. So crazy it has almost been a year and that little embryo has grown into such a beautiful baby!

Baby Jeans

 Grandma got Rowan her first pair of jeans so today we felt the need to have a picture fest to show them off. Then I couldn't stop taking pictures since she was being all happy and cute.

They have heart shaped pockets on the butt...so girly :)

 

  I thought she had the Mr. Rodgers look going on with her long overshirt. It was cracking me up.

 

Grandma also bought her a warm jacket since Ro has a lot of dresses but not a lot of warm clothes for the fall. It is a bit big but is so comfy. She will grow into it as the fall/winter progresses.

 

Then we got in the bumbo to play for the first time. She has better head control now, yay! It was much easier to read books and play with toys like this then trying to have me hold her and the toys.

 



 

Then we tried on our hat and captured my favorite picture of the day. I bought this hat for Daisy off Etsy and gave it to Julie at her baby shower. She saved it after Daisy grew out of it and passed it on to Rowan. I love how sweet it is and how sweet my little girl looks wearing it :)

 

You are my sunshine

Here is a sweet picture to make this cold, overcast, rainy day a little brighter. Happy Thursday!

Labor Day Weekend

We had two special visitors over labor day weekend. My little sister Amanda came home from Arkansas and my Nana flew down from Chicago. Rowan had yet to meet her great-nana so that was fun to introduce her. Matt and I were talking about how crazy it is that Rowan has 8/9 great grandparents alive that she has the potential of meeting. She has already met 5 of the 8. Then we started talking about our own great grandparents and Matt actually knew quite a few of his. I only have memories of one set of great grandparents even though I know I met more of them. I hope Rowan will have the chance to know and remember some of her great grandparents, because they are pretty awesome.

Two aunts, a great-nana and her mom all playing with her and she was loving the attention.

Everyone came back the next day to see Ro again

 



Four Generation picture

 



Amanda taking her for a walk in her favorite carrier!

 

We also celebrated our birthdays with my family. Matt and I have birthdays only 2 days apart so we often have joint celebrations. We both enjoy that because then all the attention isn't just on you. Matt was gifted this sweet boomerang from Alex. His first attempts with it were highly unsuccessful, and by that I mean he flung it down our street and it landed on our neighbors' roof. One perk of the deal was we met some new neighbors! After climbing the roof and retrieving it, we decided to wait and take it to the Piper high school football field that is 5 min from our house. It is turf and we figured it wouldn't get banged up while we practice. Everyone took a shot at it, none of us were good. Thankfully we aren't needing to boomerang a small mammal for dinner or anything.

 



 

My mom and I also went to a Sporting KC game. We got her two 1/2 season passes for Mother's Day and she has taken turns bringing her kids with her extra ticket. Now that I am not pregnant or recovering from a delivery, it was finally my turn :) We saw this freaking awesome mullet that I had to take a picture of. I can't zoom on this blog so you have to do a little searching. It's in a green shirt next the kid in the blue shirt. Yes, yes....there it is in all it's curly glory. Eat your heart out!

 

So those were the highlights from our weekend. Hope everyone had a great holiday weekend as well!

Lullabys

Do any of you hate a lot of the lullaby CDs that are out there? They mostly seem to feature some light feathery soprano voice that makes me want to dry heave a little. I don't listen to that kind of elevator music, so why would I subject Rowan to that. That is not to say I don't like some of the classic lullaby songs, I just wished better artists sang them. I started searching when I was pregnant for some good alternatives to sing her to sleep and I thought I would share my favorites. If you all have found any good tracks out there, feel free to pass them along my way.

1. Hushabye Mountain by Dick Van Dyke (from one of my favorite childhood movies -Chitty Chitty Bang Bang)

2. Baby Mine by Alison Krauss (loved this one in Dumbo when the mama elephant was singing to her baby from inside of the cage)

3. All the Pretty Little Horses by Laura Veirs....don't know who this artist is but I like this song from my childhood and she was the best option I found out there

4/5/6. Lullaby by One Republic, Dixie Chicks, and Jack Johnson, not all together though, they each have a song with this title that I like

7. You are my Sunshine by Norman Blake (from O Brother, Where Art Thou)

8. Dream a little dream of me by Dala

9. Goodnight my angel by Billy Joel

10/11. Let it Be and Across the Universe by the Beatles (not lullaby songs I know, but you gotta throw some Beatles into the mix)

I also have some of the Rockabye Baby music, the Coldplay album comes highly recommended :), which is great to play but I wanted some songs I could sing along with as well. The lyrics of some of these songs are just so sweet and endearing. The Dixie Chicks song has been in my head this week. The chorus is "How long do you want to be loved, is forever enough is forever enough? How long do you want to be loved, is forever enough 'cuz I'm never never giving you up."

I think holding Rowan and singing her songs like that are some of my favorite times I spend with her. I hope she feels the same way and learns to love music and her mama :)

Cousin time

We dressed the girls up in their matching outfits last time we got them together and they were just as cute as we suspected. Rowan is practically grown out of hers so we had to snap some pictures before that happened. Lynley is so anxious to play with Rowan and Leslie has to distract her so no one gets hurt by accident. I hope Lynley stays interested in her baby cousin for a few more months until we are a little more interactive. As they get older their age gap will seem less and less and hopefully the girls will have a lot of fun together. In the meantime, Les and I enjoy our playdates :)

 

Going in for a taste and the end of our quick photo session :)

 



Two Months Old

You turned 2 months over Labor Day weekend. It seems, at times, like it is just flying by and you are getting so big so fast. Other times though it seems like I have been off work for forever and this summer is lasting a lifetime. I keep asking myself, how are you feeling about her growing up/getting bigger? Until this weekend my answer honestly has been that I am fine with it. You are sleeping better at night, you are more interactive with everyone, you smile all the time, you are learning new things and your personality is shining through the older you get. All those things make me love how far you have come and look forward to all the new things that lie ahead. It just keeps getting better as these 9 weeks have shown. However this weekend I had my first twinge of sadness that the little newborn I brought home is now an infant. You no longer fit into newborn clothes, I packed them up on Tuesday. You no longer burp over my shoulder all cuddled into my collar bone, instead you are miss bobblehead pulling back to see the world. You no longer fit in a snug ball on my chest, your legs rest in my lap when we cuddle now. My petite little peanut is getting big. I think I miss your size more than anything. To the world you are an average sized baby but to your NICU minded mommy, you are officially a big baby.

- You started smiling this month and now I can get you to smile anytime you aren't tired and cranky by just talking and smiling at you.

 

- You also started cooing and making all sorts of noises. Sometimes it sounds like you are singing. I sing a lot to you so I like to think you are trying to mimic me.

 

- You have started bubbling and drooling sometimes when you get really excited or are sucking on something (usually your fingers). Dad tries to keep up and wipe it everytime he sees the bubbles, little does he know it only gets worse :)

 

-You only like the soothie pacifier. Others make you gag or you flat out refuse them. This makes grandma sad because she hates how big the soothies are and that it covers a lot of your sweet face.

 -We got to start using your cloth diapers on you finally! You were too small for the first 6 weeks or so. I think they look so sweet on you even if they are on the smallest setting and are all bulky. Diaper butts are cute!

-You also started fitting into other clothes besides newborn onesies, horray! You have a closet full of cute dresses and outfits people bought you that you can now wear.

-Your hands are always moving, grabbing, searching and your startle reflex is still very intact. You can't sleep without being swaddled because your crazy arms are everywhere.

 

 

-You love to look at the painting Beth made you that hangs above your changing table. You will be all fussy with a dirty diaper but as soon as I lay you down and you catch sight of the birdie, you stop fussing and stare intently at it. There is a lot of contrast with the colors she used and I think it catches your eye easily. You sometimes even smile at beth bird.

 

-I have been pumping every morning this past month and we finally bought a deep freeze to store all your milk. We have about 170 oz stored up. It sounds like a lot to me but if you take 4 oz every feed, 7 times a day, all that milk would be gone by day 6! It shocked me how much you could consume. It also makes me grateful that I have been able to breastfeed and we don't have to spend all that money on formula.

 

-We still send daddy a daily picture to his phone so he doesn't miss you as much at work.

 

 - Your neck is getting much stronger and we call you the little bobblehead because you move it around in circles everytime we sit you up to burp. Tummy time is more enjoyable now for you and you don't get as frustrated.

-I got you a playmat that has fishes and a mirror and a ball hanging from it. You love to kick the ball and hear it jingle. The mirror is also turning into one of your favorite toys. You love looking at yourself and smiling at the cute baby you see :)

-We still take our morning walks, I will miss this the most when I go back to work. We smile and wave at all the kids getting on the school bus in the morning. We have gotten to know a lot more of our neighbors since we had you. It is an easy conversation starter when you have a sweet baby to talk about. It is so cool to see God using you already to brighten other people's days. So many people see you and instantly smile. If you smile back and start cooing they usually can't help themselves from stopping to interact a little.

-When we go on our walks now, I start to sing the ants go marching song when you get drowsy. Usually you are asleep by the 7th ant. I think the beat of the song and the walking/marching motion lull you sleep.

 Here is my attempt at some of the same shots we took last month....

Love you more and more every day Rowan McKinley!