Grandparents Day 2015

This month we celebrated our first ever Grandparent's Day and it was a success!  Grandma, Grammy, and Pappy met us for church and a yummy Mexican lunch.  Ava Rose was pumped to have an entourage!  And of course she doled out snuggles like it was her job.

I love doing little art projects with her and we enjoyed making cards for each grandparent that contained a sweet photo of her.  She was such a wiggle worm and her attention span is zilch, it was an absolute miracle that I was able to get her to sit still enough to do this.

 My little Picasso!

This is the picture we decided to include in their cards, I tried not to share it hoping to keep it a secret until Grandparents Day but of course the photographer thought it was cute enough to feature on her social media so it wasn't a complete surprise.  I was flattered that she chose it though.

 And I snapped a shot of her giving her card to Grandma before church.  

And just as an aside, my baby girl is no fair weather fan, she will support her pirates through the good weeks and the bad ones.  Aarrgghhh!

Ava Rose at 5 Months...

5 months, Hip Hip Hooray!

Five month facts:

• Everything goes into that mouth, literally nothing is safe.  Hands, hair, toys, blankets, fingers, toes, et cetera
• We can roll over belly to back
• Still happiest in the morning, sleeping at least four hours at a time at night but can sleep 6-8 hours if mommy is very lucky
• Loves electronic books - she has two, a Vtech and a Fisher Price one.
• She can grab toys, play, sit assisted, and reach for toys during tummy time.
• She is fascinated by her feet.
• Absolutely loves her Daddy and wants his attention as soon as he gets home, she relies on him for lots of cuddles.  
• Prefers mommy for comfort and to fill her belly.  We play a lot on the floor and sing, I don't think I've ever sung so much in my life.
• She drools all day, every day and has to wear a bib 24/7.

Nicknames:  Nugget, Nuggie, Nugs, Bunny, Bunny Bear, Bunny Rose, and Fuss Bucket.  Occasionally Sugar Bear (pronounced Suhgar - thats important people!)

Weight:  4 month visit we were 11 pounds, 11 ounces.  We won't go back to the doctor until 6 months.

Length:  Just under 25 inches.  She is such a long baby considering her weight.

Eyes:  Hazel, there is quite a bit of green in them.

Clothes:  We still wear a lot of our 0-3 month "summer" clothes, onesies, and rompers.  We have graduated to 3-6 month for length though and that's probably the size we will be in for the majority of the next couple of months.  It really won't be chilly here for a while so I was able to buy her some transition clothes for the season.  We wear a size 1 shoe.

Diapers:  Size 1.  Costco carries a size 1-2 that we were given at our shower so we are going to use them up and then we will start buying size 2. 

Sleeping: At least 4 hours stretches.  We've even had some 5, 6, 7, and 8 hour nights thrown in there.  We still usually have at least one night feeding, sometimes two.  I thought that we might be teething for a while there because we had a week where we were waking up every 1.5 hours but thankfully  it was just a few nights.

Likes:  Her hands, her frog lovey, the bath, Lamaze toys, sitting up and being carried - she likes to see everything we do.  She also loves the morning news, she is so attentive to the am weather girl.

Dislikes: Homegirl falls apart after about 8pm...she needs to be bathed and ready for bed or else "Angry Nugget" comes out.  She hates getting her nails clipped, and her carseat. 

Feeding:  Breast milk, we nurse in the mornings, evenings and any night feeds that she wakes up for.  She gets three bottles during the day at daycare.  If she doesn't wake at night then I get up to pump.  We are prepared to start some solids next month.

Ava's Favorites:  Freddy Firefly, Halo SwaddleSack, Manhattan Winkle Sensory Rattle, live music

Milestones: Found her feet, rolled over the first time, she can "speak" b and g sounds, she can pass objects between her hands, and slept through the night.

Postpartum: Still losing about a half pound per week and a pound of hair a day.  That might be an exaggeration (or not because I find my hair everywhere).  It's been falling out at a slower rate it seems but I can also see it growing back in the form of baby hairs all over my head.  It's noticeable at my hairline. Cooler temperatures will hopefully motivate me to get back to running.  The past two months since I've returned to work have been so challenging balancing work and home - I want to give her my full attention when we are together; when I'm at the office I have to manage my time well so I can pick her up from daycare, play, nurse her and do a full bedtime routine, in just a few precious evening hours.  R and I have started a daily cleaning schedule so we can get a little extra mileage out of those hours, having a clean house is pretty low on the priority list when you have a tiny nugget but eventually the dog needs a bath, cat hair needs to be vacuumed from the carpet, the dishes need to be washed and the clothes need to be dried.  My breastfeeding game is still strong, I'm so thankful that 5 months in we are still able to do it.  Pumping is such a pain and it's challenging to get enough milk in a day while pumping. When I'm stressed I don't produce well and that makes collecting milk at work difficult. R has been a huge help - he gets my bottles and pump parts clean and ready and at the end of the day he measures the milk and fills the collection bags to freeze.  I pack and unpack my bag every day and of course I stop everything about every three hours to either pump or nurse if I'm with her - it's definitely a team effort.

I have a tiny nugget for one more month before she is officially an "older infant" as her teachers call it...she thinks she is big and is trying desperately to become more mobile and independent.  We had a nice long chat today about staying little as long as possible for my sake. 

Currently...

We are having a date night, a for real date night with a planned dinner and a move that we have had on the DVR for months.

I have been loving my Covered Goods nursing cover for breastfeeding in public, it's perfect and thin enough so I don't sweat buckets.

Nugget starts her new school on Monday, we are so, so excited.  Unfortunately we had a blip with our last daycare and we are a little more guarded this time around.  We had open house tonight though and met several other parents and her teachers.

We are Aldi shoppers, we have loved them for a long long time but now we don't have to drive as far to shop there :-)

Our baby didn't have many 3-6 month outfits, so far we haven't had to buy her clothes because we were gifted so many at our shower.  The past couple of weeks I've been able to shop for her and it is so much fun!  I love Carters, goodness that stuff is cute.

I can jam out to the Pandora Lullaby station, in fact I'm humming it pretty much all the time.  Yes, I sing Baa Baa Black Sheep  when I'm getting my makeup on.

We ordered our high chair this week, my mother in law gifted us an OXO Tot Sprout chair, I hope it lives up to the hype.

We are not so patiently waiting for Fall.

Ava Rose's 3 Month Professional Shots...

So I contacted our photographer, the same one who did our maternity shoot and Ava's newborn pictures, so we could get 3 month photos...I was upset to learn that she has taken a leave from photography for personal reasons.  She referred a friend who is a photographer and offers a similar "first year" package.  Unfortunately, Jasmeen Calhoun couldn't book us until her fourth month because she had a full schedule.  I've already set dates for 6 month and 9 month pics so we can plan in advance.  

Using a new photographer is stressful, I adored her though.  She was so easy to work with. All of the pictures were either taken in her beautiful yard or in her studio space and she was so patient with our sweet girl.  We loved all the prints and I couldn't wait to show off our 3 month 4 month infant pictures.

I've already started planning our 6 month shoot, it's going to be so much fun!

Ava Rose at 4 months...

At 4 months she gets more and more beautiful...and more and more fun.

Four month facts:

• We have a thumb sucker folks. We've bought so many different brands of pacifiers and she doesn't seem to care for any of them.
• We practice sitting up and rolling over every day. She has successfully rolled over twice on her own.
• So happy in the morning, so smiley, and so talkative.
• Her favorite toy is any finger that can stay in her mouth.
• Still sleeps swaddled but is excellent at houdini-ing her arms up to her mouth.
• Nights are still a toss up - she has the ability to sleep about 5 hours straight now.
• She is better at grabbing items and can hold toys in her hands fairly well without assistance.
• She is such a ham but hides it all as soon as the camera comes out.

Weight: 11 pounds, 8 ounces at her doctors appointment.  I got a call from daycare that she was covered in bug bites. They reported several bumps I hadn't seen so I made a doctor appointment sight unseen thinking she might have a rash (we had just finished a round of antibiotics for a cold).  Nope, it was bug bites, we have spotted several spiders around our townhome that could be the culprit.  Though we definitely have mosquitoes pretty bad here too and we've seen a few that we knew were due to mosquitoes.  The doctor wasn't alarmed and told us we could use some hydrocortisone cream.

Length:  We didn't get a new one yet, our 4 month appointment is in August.

Eyes:  Still look hazel to me, lots of green in the sunlight.

Clothes:  0-3 month still.  I've taken all the tags off her 3-6 month so we can get them washed and ready.  Maybe another week and we'll start to wear them.  She is wearing her 3 month Zutanos and she has a couple of other pairs of shoes that fit.  We have been wearing a handful of newborn onesies but I think they are ready to be retired.

Diapers - Size 1 still.  I think we can finish what we have and move up.  We are still loving Pampers brand.

Sleeping: 3-4 hour increments usually but we have had several nights of 5 straight which is A-Mazing! This month I have had both my worst night's sleep and also my best night in 4 months. We are back to sleeping in our bassinet until the first feed and then usually we cosleep after that.  Most nights I love cosleeping, it feels natural - however bedsharing with my husband, baby, and often my cat doesn't leave a lot of space for laying in a comfortable position.

Likes: Attention - she likes to be held, talked to, and sang to. She loves to play with her toys and put everything in her mouth.  She loves bedtime stories and sitting upright when we spend time together.  She is starting to get very interested in the food on my plate and my cup.  Baths in the sink.

Dislikes: Waiting for attention or food, we respond to her promptly but a fraction of a second is too long for her. She hates getting her hair washed and some days she doesn't like her clothes being changed.  

Feeding: Breast milk all day every day.

Ava's Favorites:  morning talks, "Carter" bear, lullaby apps on Pandora, Lamaze Freddie Firefly (she picked it out herself at the toy store), loveys - she has a sock monkey lovey and a frog from Bunnies by the Bay, Sadie Sky headwraps

Milestones:  A professional photo session, first "music in the park", rolled over for the first time, first dinner and movie with mom and dad, first funeral, and first Fourth of July.  She met lots of extended family this month.  Oh and she can finally wear a bow in her hair!

Postpartum:  I'm losing my baby weight steadily at a rate of 1/2 pound per week despite eating mass tons of food. Seriously, the hunger can not be described.  I feel so dehydrated, I think my body is using so much water for the milk that I don't have enough for myself - something I am trying to correct.  It's left my skin really dry so I need to lotion at least twice a day.  Also, I'm still losing my hair in clumps, especially in the shower but I find strands all over me, the furniture, my daughter, my car...it's like dropping breadcrumbs to re-trace my steps.  Some nights I'm getting better sleep which is making a difference in the way I feel during the day.  I have my first "cold" with a baby though and I have no time to feel bad - with work commitments, upcoming family events, full weekends, and nugget I need to be on the mend quick.  I'm so scared to take medication, some are not safe for breastmilk and some can affect my output so I'm trying to let it run it's course as much as possible.  It's been a great month, we've been able to interact with her more and she's showing more personality which makes "mommying" so much easier.