Today, you turned sixteen weeks old.To be more specific, you are 113 days, 10 hours and 41 minutes (as I write this).You’re my big girl now!
Last week, I wrote about you making the steps towards holding your bottle.This week, there’s no steps about it: you ARE holding your bottle.Daddy is so amazed with this particular milestone.Each time you grab your bottle and ferociously put it in your mouth, he yells for me to come and watch you hold (and devour) your full bottle.That’s pretty impressive for a three and a half month old baby, Miss Sammie!
Holding your bottle as a proud Daddy looks on.
That said, it’s confession time.I’ve been told by everyone (friends, grandparents, photographer…you get the idea) that I need to give you “tummy time.”I knew that I SHOULD be giving you tummy time, but I haven’t been doing it then requisite ten minutes a day (so you could do better at lifting your head while laying on your back). In a nutshell, you screamed like a banshee whenever you were placed tummy down. In my defense, I tried on more than one occasion to lay you on your tummy so you could continue to strengthen your already Herculean neck muscles, but my efforts were circumvented by the crying that inevitably followed when you weren’t on your back.
That WAS the case until this week, at least.A few days ago, I reluctantly placed you on your stomach…and waited for the tears.Only, the tears never came.Ok…this could work!I grabbed the toy keys nearby and started rattling them in front of your face so that you had to lift your head to see where the noise was coming from.I watched your face as the light bulb went on. Gradually, you planted your hands on either side and pushed not just your head but your whole upper body up so that you could see what these *magic* keys were doing now. This phenomenon continued for two whole minutes.
Things are looking up, baby!
Now it was my turn to excitedly shout for your father to see what you were doing…and we both watched in amazement as yet another milestone was crossed off of your list.Unlike the rolling over phenomenon that happened several weeks ago, this milestone is one that has been repeated several times in the past few days.Whew.Just in time for your four month pictures in a few weeks, too.The photographer will be pleased.
Love you lots,
Your mommy
PS You went to your first wedding last week (my cousin Diedra got married), and boy were you the looker! In fact, I think we all looked pretty good--in spite of the blurry picture :-)
Really?15 weeks?Can I use my magical Tivo remote and stop time?No?Nuts.
So, yeah, you’re the old baby on the block by now.Two other babies (Benjamin and Wendy Elizabeth) have been born since you made your debut last spring, thus making you the older, wiser, gigantor baby.
Seriously, you’re huge.I can’t pick you up (and hold you) with one arm anymore.You’re officially “two arms needed” Sammie now.This makes it a little difficult when I’m trying to walk and feed you at the same time.With two arms in use holding you, I’m left with my chin to magically hold your bottle in place to keep you appeased.I guess it’s a good thing that you’re making steps to hold the bottle on your own (although a little part of me is a little sad that soon you won’t need me to hold and feed you, as I rather enjoy our bottle/cuddle time).
In other milestones, you’ve discovered your thumb, or more specifically: thumb sucking. This momentous occasion happened when we changed you to the larger size swaddlelast weekend.The smaller green one worked perfectly for the first few months, but in the past few weeks it required more than a bit of effort on my part to squeeze your growing body into a too-small swaddle.So, we handed off the smaller green one to your baby cousin and put you in the larger pink one.
Modeling the larger pink swaddle
Still, the new one is just a little too big for you because it doesn’t take long for you to work your pudgy arms through to the top so that they’re free…and ready for thumb sucking.Every morning, when I go to check on you before leaving for work, I find you sucking mercilessly on that little thumb of yours.
You're all thumbs in one of the last nights in the green swaddle.
Speaking of thumbs, you’ve got your father wrapped around your little finger.Nonni and Poppa babysat you last night (I had Bible Study), and when I brought you home he couldn’t get to you fast enough.I hadn’t been home two minutes before he had you out of the car seat and on the floor, chit chatting away with you.I know the look that he gets when you’re around—it’s pure love!
Yesterday, you got a cousin! Benjamin Iley Pullen came into the world on Friday, August 28th. He's a beautiful little baby who's got Uncle Grant's dimpled chin and Aunt Erin's beautiful mouth. Yesiree, Uncle Grant & Aunt Erin are definitely two proud (and tired) parents right now.
We went over for dinner tonight and had a good time with Nonni and Auntie Erin's parents. It's so weird to hold Benji: he's half your size! In fact, next to him you look like gigantor baby :-)
Here you guys are side by side on the Boppy (this picture brings me back to when YOU were the small baby beside your older cousin Keston several months ago).
Here's the close up--your eyes got super big when the cameras started flashing!
These pictures marked the first of what I'm sure will be many pictures of the two of you. You're so lucky to have a cousin who lives in town who's so close in age to you!
Love you lots, your mommy
PS. The title of this post says it all--2009 is the year of babies in mommy & daddy's world. I did a little bit of counting--and we know of19 babies that were born (or are due to be born) this year. Schools better get ready because the graduating class of 2027 is going to be a big one!
It’s Thursday—which means that it’s time for another weekly update on all things “you,” so without any further adieu, my not-so-little-fourteen-week-old-bundle-of-joy…
I’ll give you the Cliff’s Notes version first:
You discovered your hands.More specifically, you discovered that you like the way your hands taste.
You also learned that if you try hard enough to get out of your swaddle, you can loosen your arm free and enjoy the benefits of thumb sucking in the wee small hours of the morning.
We met your newest cousin last weekend: Wendy Elizabeth. Methinks the two of you are going to get along like two peas in a pod.
When you are hungry or tired, you cry.A lot. This throws me for a loop when I’m not aware that the source of your tears is hunger or fatigue.
You currently are weighing in at a whopping 13 pounds, 8 ounces and are 24 inches long.
Although you’ve given us slight half laughs before, yesterday you gave me a full on, can’t-hold-it-in-anymore LAUGH.
Now for the full-length version:
Discoveries
Over the course of the past several weeks, you’ve learned that if you grab something (skill one) and put it in your mouth (skill two), you can explore the world around you by taste.As I write this, the things that you like to put in your mouth are your clothes, burp cloths, blankets, toys and hands.If left to your own devices, that little hand of yours starts rooting around for a shirt or dress hem to clasp in your fist for a little taste.This also works if one of the aforementioned objects is anywhere in your vicinity.Mickey’s nose will never be the same, I’m afraid.
If you can’t find anything for a grab n’ taste, you settle for your hands.This seems to work for you, because you smile like no tomorrow as you cram those fists in your mouth (yes, I said fists—sometimes you get overly ambitious and try to fit both of your hands in your mouth).
New Additions
The family baby boom continued last week with the birth of your second cousin, Wendy Elizabeth Collins.She was born exactly 13 weeks after you were born. Had she been born on the 21st instead of the 20th, you two would be exactly three months apart.Little Elizabeth is absolutely adorable…and tiny.She’s two pounds smaller than you were at birth.She was a few days old when we made the pilgrimage to Exeter to see her, and I couldn’t help but stare at her and compare the size difference between the two of you.Were you really a little newborn like that?The changes that have happened these past few months have been so slow and gradual that it’s hard to believe that you’ve left the newborn stage and are now officially an infant.
At any rate—back to you.You were pretty content for the first part of the visit, but for the last hour, you were NOT a happy camper, which leads us to the next “chapter”:
Tears
Seriously, kiddo, you threw me for a loop last week.Just when I (rather smugly, I must admit), thought I had you and your routine all figured out, too.Your routine had been something like this:
§7-9AM: wake up, get fed and changed (order depended on the urgency of the morning diaper).
§9AM-Noon: Hang out on the activity mat, kicking and reaching and cooing away whilst wondering what will that magical white light up bear do today?At least, I think that’s what you were wondering.Somewhere during this time, we fed you your second bottle of the day.
§Noon-3PM: Naptime in the swing (burp rag on one side of your face, doll on the other, and pacifier in your mouth).
§3PM: Mommy’s home!Time to lay in mommy’s arms, drink the third bottle of the day, and coo away to tell her everything that you did that morning.
§6-8PM: Drink fourth bottle, lull yourself into a food coma that results in the second nap in the swing (preferences for this nap are somewhat the same as the afternoon nap).
§8-10PM: Wind down time.Have the fifth bottle and get into a onesie and swaddle.Suck on the pacifier, and with a full stomach and happy heart, fall asleep in mommy’s arms.
§10PM: Bedtime!Sleep for a very long time so you can repeat the routine again the next morning.
Yep. It was all figured out and a mutual understanding had been met by all three parties (you, and your dad & me): if we followed the routine, you were happy, and rewarded us with the babblings and spittles of a happy baby.
Last week, however, you changed your routine…and it took dear old mom and dad a while to figure this out.It seems as though you didn’t want to wait until it was “time” to eat or sleep.You much preferred to cry your way to getting what you wanted; your needs were met faster.This confused your father and I, as we weren’t used to having you cry so hard that your face resembled a ripened tomato.We thought you were tired of being held, so we would lay you on the ground and wiggle your feet to get you to calm down—to no avail.Then we thought you might be teething, so we gave you teething tablets and Tylenol.The sweet taste of the Tylenol calmed you down for a little bit, but when that taste wore off—you still looked something like a screaming Bob the Tomato.
After trying everything to get you to calm down while visiting your new cousin, I was convinced something was wrong.Were you hot?Getting an earache?Gas?
Turns out it wasn’t any of those things.We took you to the doctor, and after you almost made me look like a liar (you grinned your way through the exam), she witnessed you not being happy for a solid fifteen minutes.We tried everything to make you happy (teething, ear aches and heat had already been ruled out), but in the end it was your bottle you wanted.
Sooo…we’re upping the amount of formula you’re getting.We are now giving you six ounces per feeding.That’s two more ounces than you were getting only a month ago, but if it’s working for you, I’m not complaining.It still amazes me that you’re able to knock that much back at a time, though.The bottle—it’s bigger than your head!
Meanwhile, the tears have subsided and you’re a much happier baby.The routine of choice, while slightly modified, lives on.Thank goodness.Because with school back in session I really need all of the sleep I can get.
Growing up and out
So it totally makes sense, then, that with all of this extra formula, you’re growing by leaps and bounds.In mid-July (six weeks ago), you weighed 10 pounds, 12 ounces and were 21.75 inches long and fell perfectly in the fiftieth percentile.This past doctor’s visit confirmed what I had already suspected: your bigger than you were at that last visit.Specifically, you are 2 pounds and 8 ounces bigger.And 2.25 inches longer.
We better get working on the closet full of 3-6 month clothes.We’re making good headway, but we’ve got a long way to go.I had guessed that you would be in this clothing size during the fall and early winter months, but you’re growing before the seasons are changing.This is a bummer, because we received some adorably cute cool-weather outfits at your baby showers.Maybe you’ll get a sister who can wear them one day?
Laughs
You don’t seem to mind the closet quandary too much, because you LAUGHED for the first time yesterday.You had given your nonni & poppa half laughs (I think you were being more polite than anything), but you gave your mama a full on, if-you-held-it-in-anymore-you’d-pee-your-diaper, LAUGH.And yes, I am going to put the world LAUGH in all caps because that’s how big that LAUGH was.And you LAUGHED twice for me.Apparently, you like to have your booty shaken while your mama says “Oooga Booga,” because that’s exactly what we were doing when you LAUGHED. And then you LAUGHED again because you didn’t get it all out the first time.
So, my darling fourteen week old daughter, this one’s for you:
As I write these letters to my daughter, I can't help but wonder...is there anyone there? The map to the right of the blog is lighting up with flags from around the world--but now I'm wondering: who are you?
So, if you're one of those ones who's been following our adoption journey, could you come out of the closets of the world wide web, leave a comment and let me know who you are?
Woo hoo you're 13 weeks today! As of tomorrow, you will officially be three months old. I don't have a whole lot of time to post this morning (have to go to school pretty soon), so I figured I'd post some pictures of the day trip your dad and I took you on this past weekend.
We went to Sequoia National Park (home of the humongous trees) and Hume Lake (where your dad spent many summers and weekends and I worked for four consecutive summers).
Happy twelve weeks! It seemed that you were changing as often as your diapers were this past week...
But I digress. We began with a weekend in the mountains with Daddy's cousins and their kids. It's amazing how much change a mere year can bring to a family. Last summer, your father and I were childless, your Auntie Bethany & Uncle Brent were "with child" (but didn't know it yet), and your Auntie Beth was about to get the surprise of a lifetime (Uncle Tom proposed shortly after last year's cousins' weekend). Fast forward to this summer: the family got two new babies, and Aunt Beth & Uncle Tom joined us as husband and wife. All of this talk of change makes me wonder what cousins' weekend 2010 is going to bring!
Craziness abounds when the Patzkowskys are around!
The time spent in Shaver Lake was fantastic--the "girls" went on walks (you enjoyed being carried in your Baby Bjorn Disneyland style) and the "boys" went fishing and dirt bike riding. I had a great time--and I was especially excited to see baby Keston (who we hadn't seen in all summer!).
This was your first meeting. You were a week old and he was two months old. You tried to eat his ear shortly after this picture was taken.
And here you are, two months later (he's four months and you're two and a half months). No ears were harmed in the taking of this picture.
We came back from Shaver and headed home...right into some major changes for you. For starters, we didn't put the portable pack in play back up when we returned from the trip. We decided to actually use your nursery and let you sleep in your crib. Although it took a little while to get you used to sleeping in your own room, I think it's better for all of us. At least, you're not complaining much--once you go to sleep, you're out until the morning...and you're still sleeping 8-10 hours a night...but we're still not talking about that because we don't want to jinx it. But way to go, Sammie!
The next morning, I decided to institute another change: your bottles. We had been feeding you four ounces out of the smaller Avent bottles...but in the past few weeks you've just been acting like those smaller bottles aren't cutting it for you. You were getting fussier sooner between feedings (and getting frustrated that the formula wasn't coming out fast enough)...so, I brought out the big guns: the mamba jamba gigantor Avent bottle:
I took this picture for comparison's sake. The bigger bottles holds more than two times what the smaller bottle. It's insanely huge next to your little head. I would've taken that picture, for kicks and giggles, as well, but you're sleeping (on hour one of what will hopefully be a nine hour night) and I don't want to wake you up.
At any rate, taking 6 ounces (two more ounces than you were used to) in a bigger bottle with a faster flowing nipple proved to be too much for you, because on Sunday night you were NOT a happy camper. Your daddy's friends came over to meet you for the first time and they must've thought we were lying the whole time we were telling them that you were a happy baby because your miserable little stomach was definitely communicating otherwise to our dinner guests.
On Monday (my first day back at work...but more on that in a moment), I tried to remedy the situation by scaling back to five ounces a feeding. I kept the big bottles, but replaced the newer nipple with the same ones you had been using for the past month and a half. I think this may have done the trick...because come Monday night, you were a much happier baby and I was very tempted to put you in the car and drive you over to your daddy's friends so I could hold your smiling face in front of theirs and say "See?!?! We're not crazy lying parents--she really is a happy baby!"
I managed to keep my "I told you so's" in check that night, but it sure did take a lot of self restraint on my part.
I was partially able to keep myself in line because, as I mentioned earlier, Monday was my first day back at school. We had meetings on Monday and Tuesday and yesterday (Wednesday) the summer really came to an end when the students walked through the doors of my classroom. It was very difficult to leave you at home (and in the care of your Auntie Beth, Nonni, Grandma Max & Daddy), but I had to go back to make some money so you have a place to continue sleeping in your nursery and with the mamba jamba bottles to drink out of.
I'm hoping that the 7AM-2:30PM time frame goes by really quickly each day, because I gotta tell ya, each time I look at your little face in the pictures that I've got ALL OVER my classroom*, it takes all I've got within me to keep from getting in my car and driving home to hold you and kiss you and tell you that I love you.
Well, it's getting late, and I've got to *groan* get up early tomorrow morning, so I'm going to sign off. I love you!
Sending you tons of kisses, your mommy
*PS. When I said that I have pictures of you all over my classroom, I mean that literally--I added over 50 pictures of you to my bulletin board. I will try to get a picture of that for next week's update. I also shamelessly put your pictures in the power point that introduces the class syllabus.
You stick your tongue out at me, I stick my tongue out at you!
