8 Months!

I know I keep saying it, but geez, I think Abigail is just growing up too fast!

I can't believe she's already 8 months!

I took our usual picture, and of course, I couldn't decide which to post, so I here's 3 of my favorites :)

PS- yes, I'm well aware I'm behind on blogging, but don't think I've forgotten. 

Been busy, but I am determined to catch up! :)

Thanksgiving 2011

I have so much to be thankful for this year!  Of course, Thanksgiving isn't the only day we should be thankful, and in my heart and mind I am thankful to God every single day...but because it's Thanksgiving I like to make it a point to let others know that I'm thankful for them.  It's bittersweet because this is the first Thanksgiving with my dad gone, and also Abigail's first Thanksgiving.  But again, I'm just really thankful for every one in my life and every thing I have, and I'm thankful for my past and all my experiences that have made me the person that I am.  I'm also definitely thankful for everything that I'm not--  I'm not poor, I'm not homeless, I'm not sick, I'm not sad, and I'm not lonely.  It's so easy to take all of that for granted.  I know I am so blessed.

In terms of plans for Thanksgiving, this year is different from past years because I really needed to step up and take charge with cooking and making sure everything comes together for my family.  The morning started with Michael dropping me & Abbie off at my mom's at 9 so that my sister and I could get straight to work.  The plan was to cook a 23 pound turkey, a 10 pound ham, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, a modified green bean casserole, and a pumpkin pie.  With only 1 oven and tons of things to cook, I was really nervous...especially since I've never made a Thanksgiving dinner before.  I was so novice, in fact, that up until it was time to head over to my mom's house, I was watched YouTube videos on how to cook Thanksgiving dinner.  haha

My sister made the stuffing and I prepped the turkey.  Since it needed to cook so long, you'd think we'd have lots of latent time to just hang out.  Quite the opposite.  We were running around trying to figure out how to get everything cooked, especially since everything needed to be done in the oven and my mom's oven is small.  Still not quite sure what I did, but I must have done something right, because dinner was SOOOOOOO AMAZING!  Everything was cooked and done on time.  :)

Massaging the turkey with all sorts of spices

Turkey came out sooo moist and juicy, and the cornbread stuffing was TO DIE FOR!  :)

Ham with my mom's brown sugar glaze recipe

Modified green bean casserole (we added carrots & mushrooms too)

Abbie hanging out while everyone ate dinner

Eating her first Thanksgiving dinner - Turkey and Sweet Potato baby food

SO thankful for my family

Hanging out with family

25 Weeks!

This past week, Abbie's Grammy (& Grampy) were out of town, so we needed to have someone else watch her.  My sister coincidentally had a week off of school, so she offered to babysit.  We were afraid at first, especially since Kayla has never babysat a baby alone, and I know she is sometimes squeamish about changing diapers and babies spitting up.  Well, after just the first day, I was so relieved because Kayla was great!  She really surprised me!!  I wrote out a schedule and some simple instructions on Abbie's routines and how to prepare her food, and she really followed it to a T!  Honestly, the first day, I had my cell phone in my pocket anxious that my sister would call panicking about something.  But nope, no calls.  Just pictures that she'd text me of how well Abbie and her were doing, pictures of Abbie playing in her jumper at my mom's house, and of Abbie swaddled and sleeping.  :)   All week went well, and it was great that I brought Abbie over because she got to spend some time with my mom, whom she doesn't see very often.  Anyways, it's great to know that I have someone else who I can trust to watch the baby, who knows the baby's routine and how to take care of her the way I would.  

Playing @ my mom's house

Also this week, on Thursday night, I discovered that Abbie is starting to sit up by herself, unsupported!  Can you believe it?!  Geez, this kid is growing up waaayyy too fast.  I'm just afraid that I'm gonna blink and next thing I know, she'll be crawling away from me too.  Ahhh!  I just want her to stay my little baby forever.  

My big girl, sitting up! :)

Also, it's been a while since I posted this, but:

Likes:

• Mirrors
• Her own reflection & pictures of herself
• Blinking lights (I can't wait for her to see what Christmas will be like!!)
• Music, especially fast paced, pop music
• Riding in the car 
• Grabbing anything and everything around her...especially shiny things
• Chewing on everything
• Being swaddled

Dislikes:

• Delayed meals.  If she sees her bottle, or knows it's time to eat, you better feed her, ASAP!
• That her mobile in her room is broken and the little hanging people don't move around for her :(
• Being on her tummy for too long.  She wants to sit up or stand.

Big Girl Bed

As I type this, I have an eye on Abigail sleeping...using the video monitor.  That's right!  She's finally transitioned into sleeping in her own room at night!

For the past couple months, Michael and I had been talking about when the best time would be to transition her into sleeping in her own room at night.  Of course, I had a little trouble letting go of her sleeping in the co-sleeper in our room.  Obviously I love having her close, but also, it's just so convenient to have her close just in case she woke up in the middle of the night and was fussing, or if she was coughing or anything.  But sadly, the time finally came where she seemed ready to move into her own bed because:

1) She rarely wakes up, and if she does, all she is looking for is her pacifier, and not a feeding.
2) She should make the transition soon because if we wait until she's a little older, it'll be harder to move her.
3) She really was starting to get too big for the co-sleeper.  Our girl is really tall, and her legs are long, so she really fills out the co-sleeper.  If she get any bigger, it'll be much to small for her.  (especially since she rolls around much more now).


Anyways, she started sleeping in her crib on October 21st.  We went through our bedtime routine with her, and instead of putting her in the co-sleeper, we just put her in her crib.  I'm so glad that she's familiar with, and comforted by her Sleep Sheep and her puppy...because they really helped make the transition soooo easy.  We put them in her crib with her, turned them on, and she drifted off to sleep as usual.  It's been a week now, and putting her to bed has been a piece of cake.  What a good little baby!  :)



ps- THANK YOU to the inventors of video monitors!  While the transition for Abbie was pretty easy, it was a little rougher on me, so I'm really grateful that we have a video monitor because I can watch her and feel more at ease, knowing and actually seeing that she's safe and sleeping peacefully.

She TALKS!

I've been meaning to blog about this...and in fact, I finally recorded her talking, but for some reason I was not able to attach the sound clip to this blog :(  But nevertheless....MY BABY SAID HER FIRST WORD!  :)

Last Wednesday night (Oct 19th), Michael and I were at Target picking up some groceries.  I was walking down the aisles, pushing her stroller and listening to her babble, when all of a sudden, she started saying "mama mama!!"  :)  I called Michael over to have him hear her.  He doubted that she was saying it, and said that it didn't really sound like "mama."  Michael said that babies don't usually talk until 7 months or so.  But even when we were checking out with the cashier, he even confirmed that Abbie was saying it.  Haha...What's funnier is that later that night, as I'm putting the groceries away, I could hear Michael with the baby in her room saying, "Can you say 'dada'??"

She now says it all the time, and it just melts my heart every time!  <3

Thing 1 & Thing 2

With all the craziness that's been going on, I've been so busy, but sooo needing to blog!  We've been so busy with work/school/and with everything going on with my brother, that I haven't had time to post about a big milestone.  I've been meaning to try and find just 5 minutes at least to escape to my computer, but before I knew it, it had been a week and a milestone became TWO milestones!



Last week on the night of Abigail's 5 months, we saw this:

That's right!!  Her first tooth!!  :)  We knew it'd be coming, especially since she's been gnawing on her hand and her toys (and everything she can get a hold of).  She's also been drooling like crazy!  Then on that night, I put my finger in her mouth to massage her gums, when all of a sudden I felt something sharp on her lower gums.  

But that's not all, folks!  Just the other night, after Abbie had been super fussy all day, I felt in her mouth and discovered something new poking through:

Tooth #2!!  It's crazy how soon it came it, considering it had been only a week (if that) since the first one came.  So now, we can say that she has teeth!  Crazy! :)

5 Months Old

Holy moly!  This girl is just getting os big!  Can you believe she's 5 months old already?!

20 Weeks!

Time is flying like crazy!  Our little girl is 20 weeks old, can you believe it?!

She's learning so much, so quickly...not to mention growing like a weed!  We take pictures often, and even looking back at pictures from the week prior is crazy because we can see how she's changing and getting so big!

In the past couple weeks, Abigail has learned to:

• Grab her toys (any basically anything in her reach) and put them straight into her mouth
• Push the buttons on her toys to make them make noise or play music
• Reach for her toes (while laying on her back) and put them in her mouth. Boy, does she LOVE sucking on them!!

• Recognize her spoon and open up her mouth in anticipation for the next bite of rice cereal
• Roll over
• Outstretch her arms towards what/who she wants
• Respond to the sound of her name, especially when her dad calls her
• Play with all the little toys and gadgets on her jumper...before, she seemed content just hanging there and smiling.  But now, she reaches for all the little dangling toys, bats at the little flashing lights, and tries to twist all the knobs and move the little pieces around.  
• Stare and smile at her reflection in the mirror, and even tries to "talk" or scream at it.  
• Remove her pacifier with her hands, and even pick up her pacifier and put it in her mouth (although it's not always in the right way the first time, she's pretty persistent and keeps trying until it is)
• Suck her thumb!  Yep...she finally found it.  However, once she found it, she sucked on it for a day or two at the most.  It seems she is more interested in sucking on her fist or a few fingers instead.  

Abigail is doing great!  As her doctor said at our last visit, "She's perfect!!" It still breaks my heart that I have to go to work and not spend the day with her, but I think I've finally gotten the hang of it, especially since I stopped crying when dropping her off in the morning at her Grammy & Grampy's house after the first few days.  Things are going great there too during the day, by the way.  They've got their routine and it's obvious how much Abbie enjoys seeing her grandparents.  

Another thing that's going great is feeding.  Breastfeeding is still going well.  I feed her whenever I'm with her, and while I'm at work, I pump during my break.  It's time consuming and sometimes inconvenient, but it's so worth it to know that I'm giving the baby what's best for her.  Also, eating solids is going great too.  She loves her cereal and gobbles it all up.  

Again, we feel so blessed.  We're so in love with this little girl, it's just ridiculous.  Now that October is here, we're getting so excited because the holidays will be coming soon, and we can't wait to spend them with her.  There's so much to look forward to :)

Rice Cereal!

On Friday, we went ahead and gave Abigail her first taste of solid food -- rice cereal!  Although, I really don't think it's considered solid, considering it was really thin and runny, but nonetheless, it was our girl's first time eating from a spoon and sitting up in her highchair like a big girl! :)

She definitely liked sitting in her chair.  We gave her a toy to occupy her while we figured out the right proportions of breast milk and the cereal.  It was surprising how watery the cereal looked.  I was expecting something more around the consistency of a milkshake, but it seemed more like the consistency of a watery gravy.

When we started feeding her, she seemed confused by the spoon.  She sucked on it and kept trying to grab it.  She seemed to like the cereal, and she ate it up, but she gets frustrated at the part where she has to wait in between bites when we're getting another spoonful for her.  When she's hungry, she's hungry and she doesn't like to wait!   

We told her, "All done!"
She just sat and stared, and looked like she was waiting for more.

It was a successful feeding!  

She seems to like it, but it will take a little while to get her used to eating from a spoon.  In a few weeks, we'll introduce some fruits and veggies too.  :)

4 Months Old

Look who's 4 months old today!

With turning 4 months old, also comes her 4 month doctor's appointment.  The appointment went well, and the doctor was very pleased at how Abigail is growing and developing.  Her height is now 25.5 inches, which still puts her in the 90th percentile!  Also, she now weighs 14 pounds and 4 ounces, which puts her in the 64th percentile.  Her doctor also mentioned that because Abbie is 4 months and over 14 pounds, she is now ready for rice cereal!  Ahhh!  While rice cereal (a couple teaspoons mixed with a couple ounces of breastmilk) isn't considered a "solid food" yet, I still can't get over the fact that she'll be eating from a spoon now!  Also, we were told that as long as she does well with the rice cereal and gradually gets used to the texture and thickness of it, we also have the go ahead to start introducing some pureed fruits and vegetables to her in the next month, too.  I guess I better start looking for sales on baby food!

15 Weeks

A few new milestones met:

- Even when I was pregnant, I knew that our girl had very strong legs, made evident by the way my whole stomach would move whenever she kicked.  But lately, Abigail has been showing her very strong desire to "stand up"!  She loves trying to bear weight on her legs when we're holding her up.  Also, when we have her laying down on her back, she has learned that she can kick her legs against the bed and she'll be able to scoot away.  Unfortunately, she hasn't yet learned how to control which direction she is scooting towards, which gets her a little frustrated.

- She's so much more comfortable sitting up now!  Of course, she can't sit up by herself yet, but when we put her in her Bumbo seat, she can sit up so well with very little head bobbing.  She has great control of her neck and head!  When she's sitting independently, she loves looking around and checking out the toys nearest to her, while still turning to look at us to make sure we haven't gone too far away.

Sitting up and having a nice chat with her Papa (Michael's dad)

- Abigail's back has really gotten a lot stronger too!  She's doing fabulous at tummy time!  Before, she would tired out after a minute on her stomach, and she'd end out with her head down on her blanket with her whimpering for someone to pick her up.  But just this morning, she was on her tummy for almost 15 minutes, and still she was just looking at her toys and smiling at her reflection on her tiny mirror.  She's getting better control and more strength in her forearms.  Sometimes it looks like she's doing little baby push ups.

(pardon the bed head)  :)

- She targets specific items and then reaches for them and grabs them.   When she's sitting in her car seat, she loves batting at her toys because she has learned that they make noise if she moves them.  She seems to find great satisfaction in seeing that she can make the toys move and make noise with them.  She's got a pretty tight grip too!  I've learned very quickly not to wear my hair down, or wear any jewelry right now.  I need to teach her to be gentle.

-  She clutches her hands as if she is praying.  She's amazed at her fingers.  She loves watching them wiggle.  It's cute just watching her as she discovers that each finger can move independently from one another.

- Abigail loves making all sorts of sounds now.  She shrieks, giggles, coos, gurgles and chuckles.  I love it!!  Also, she "talks" back when she is spoken to.  When someone talk to her, she sits and listens and when they have finished talking, she seems to "respond" with her little babbles.  SOOO cute especially because often times she shows emotion, for instance, her eye brows furrow, or she smiles while she's "talking" which totally looks like she's got something important to say.

- She recognizes familiar places, toys, people and routines.  She can tell the difference between familiar voices and faces.  She definitely lets us know who she wants because she'll scream until the correct parent is holding her.  Also, she knows when we are getting her ready to go somewhere because she's usually very excited to get into her car seat now.  She loves car rides!   And at bed time, she knows when we're about to swaddle her.  She could be really fussy, but as soon as we lay her down to swaddle her, she seems to know already and instantly calms down.  It's the weirdest thing.

- Before, while I'm feeding her, her hands would stay balled up into tight fists and would stay close to her sides or up against her chest.  Recently, she started taking her hand and gently touching my face with it and stroking my cheek.  Sometimes she'll stop eating for just a second just to smile.  AHH! This girl totally just melts my heart!

- Lastly, she LOVES playing soooooo much more now!  She loves when her daddy makes her "fly."  She loves putting rattles and teethers into her mouth.  She loves toys with lights and music.  She smiles so much more and laughs when we're teasing her with the toys.



She's getting SO much more fun.  I keep thinking at every stage that "it can't possibly get any better than this".... but somehow, she just keeps getting more and more fun!  She's such a strong and smart girl!  It's the neatest thing to see her do something by accident one day...and then all of a sudden, she's doing it on purpose and smiling because she's learned how to do something new.  With each day, she's showing us more and more of her personality.  My pride and joy to the millionth degree! :)

(almost) 14 Weeks

We experienced another milestone tonight.  Abigail's first giggle.  :)

For at least the last month, she's been making all sorts of cute cooing and gurgling sounds.  She makes those consonant vowel blends that show us that slowly but surely, her speech skills are developing.  And for the past month, she has been making the cutest almost-a-laugh sounds that really are little shrieks of delight.  However, tonight, she was full-on giggling!  It was just the sweetest sound!!  She had just finished being fed and burped, and Michael and I were sitting on either side of her, when I just started talking to her and kissing her and tickling here.  All of a sudden, there she was giggling!  I tickled her and talk to her a bit more and she just kept laughing!  We tried to record it, but as we're quickly learning (and as most parents know), as soon as you get the camera to take a picture or record something, chances are your child will stop doing whatever it was that you wanted to capture.  :(

Oh well.  I'm sure we'll record it soon enough.  I'm just glad that we were both there to hear it for the first time.  Especially because I've been sad that I go back to work in a couple days and am worried about missing the little things that Abigail does, I'm SO glad that we were both here for it.

Anyways....tomorrow, Abigail is 14 weeks!  She still is sucking on her fists, and most recently, she's pretty attached to sucking on her index and middle fingers together.  She's getting more and more "vocal" and has been making more sounds, and louder sounds too!  She still dislikes baths, but she LOVES showers!  She's still doing well with her earrings.  They still do not appear to bother her at all, and she still doesn't mind when we clean her piercings 3 times daily with the antiseptic we were given.  Not sure if there's much else that's new, but she's doing great and growing like a weed!  We couldn't be happier :)  I'm just so grateful for our little family and couldn't feel more blessed.

3 Months Old

Happy 3 Months, Abigail!

...and as usual, I couldn't pick which one was my favorite because each one has such cute expressions, so here are several.  :)

...so ridiculously cute, I can't even stand it.  haha

13 Weeks

I know I say it all the time, but geez, seriously-- time is flying by way too fast.  I can't believe my girl is 13 weeks today!  (and tomorrow will be 3 months!)

What's new:

- She is holding her head up much better, and for longer stretches of time.  She used to get tired quickly and then start getting cranky and crying when we'd make her sit up and support her neck and head for more than a couple minutes, but now she's a pro :)  She is fine sitting in her Bumbo and watching me fold laundry...or sitting in her jumperoo and just hanging out while I eat some breakfast.

- I thought that she liked her hands, but now I realize that she's basically OBSESSED with her hands.  I had always discouraged her never-ending search for her thumb, especially since she couldn't find it since it was in her closed fist.  I used to just take her hand out of her mouth and put her pacifier in instead.  But now, she's learned how to remove her pacifier with her hands and attempts to shove her whole fist in her mouth.  Either that....or she will just suck on her fingers (basically all of them except her thumb, which she has still not been able to locate).  I've given up on my battle to get her to suck on her pacifier instead, and have made my new mission to be to make sure she has a bib on so that she doesn't soak her clothes with her drool.  Also, I make sure to watch closely, since she tends to gag on her fingers sometimes.  :(

- Just last night, Abigail found her toes!  I was sitting her up on our fed after feeding and burping her.  She was looking around and smiling, when all of a sudden she looked down at her feet and her eyes got all wide.  She stared at her toes in amazement and watched as they wiggled.  It was the cutest thing.  She stared at them intensely,  as if she was trying to will them to come to her.  Too bad her short little arms couldn't reach them yet.  Haha

-It seems as if she's starting to recognize her name.  I could be talking to Michael in the same room as her, but when I call her name she seems to recognize that sound and turns her head to look at me.  Very cool!

-This week, we put away more of her clothes that she's outgrown.  She was done with the newborn sized clothes, but now she's starting to be a little too long for the 0-3 month outfits.  She fits the 3 month clothes well, and in a couple things, (especially the Carters brand clothes) she's starting to fit in 3-6 month clothes.  It was sad to see a couple of the outfits I liked on her to be too small, but with growing out of clothes comes growing INTO new clothes!  Nicole has been so good at sending us bags of clothes from her cousin, Annabelle, that we've got lots and lots of new outfits to look forward to! :)  I've already washed all the 3 and 6 month clothes and just waiting for my girl to grow just a little bit more.  I'm excited because there are some really cute things I'm looking forward to seeing Abigail in.


Anyways, she really is growing and changing so much every day, it's hard to keep track.  We're taking pictures left and right and trying to remember to capture some videos along the way too.  And with my work start date just around the corner, I'm growing more and more anxious.  I'm trying not to think about it, though, and am trying to focus on enjoying the moment.

Pierced Ears!

We've been meaning to take Abigail to get her ears pierced before I go back to work, so yesterday, we did!  I know every one has their own opinions about having a baby's ears pierced, but in my family, it's pretty much a tradition that baby girls get their ears pierced when they are just a few months old.  When Michael and I talked about whether or not we should get Abigail's ears pierced, we agreed that we wanted to get her ears pierced while she is young so that she is too young to be scared or worried about what's coming, and young enough so that she won't remember it.  I got my ears pierced in the same doctor's appointment as when I got my first shots when I was just 2 months old.  Thinking about it now, if I hadn't gotten my ears pierced as a baby, as pretty as I think it is to be able to wear earrings, I'd be too scared to go get my ears pierced.  That's why I'm thankful my mom got mine done when I was young.

For Abigail, we just wanted to make sure we got her ears pierced after she received her first shots, and that she gets them done at a time while I'm home with her just in case she's in any pain or anything.  Surprisingly, though, it was a lot easier than how we originally thought it was going to be like. We had asked Abbie's doctor about how to go about getting her ears pierced, and she recommended that we take her to the mall, because that's where she had gotten her daughter's ears pierced when she was also a baby.  We took her to Claire's at the Cerritos Mall.  They apparently do this all the time because in fact, there was a line of people waiting to get their ears pierced.  We were first in line and the lady who was going to do it totally put us at ease.  While she was setting up, I saw that the people behind us in line had 2 daughters (around age 7 or 8) who were going to get their ears pierced.  The whole time they were waiting, the girls were crying and telling their mom that they were scared and didn't want to get it done anymore.  Seeing that reminded me of why I wanted to get Abbie's done now while she was young.

Anyways, it took just a minute, and it was done!  Michael sat in the chair and held Abigail while the lady pierced her ears.  It made me a little sad at first because the baby was so happy, looking around and smiling-- totally unsuspecting.  Her ears were pierced one at a time, but within seconds of each other.  She cried, but as soon as I picked her up and held her, she was fine.  By the time we paid and walked out of the store, she was already smiling again.  :)

Here's a video of her ears getting pierced:

I agree with my friend who said that it's more traumatizing for the parents.  I think I cried just as much as Abigail did, but only because I was so scared for her.  That's why I felt so happy to see how lively and animated she was for the rest of the day.  I gave her some baby Tylenol afterwards, just in case, but she really was fine.  Better than fine, actually.  She was her same happy little self.  :)  Even later that night, and even this morning when I was putting on the cleaner they told me to use on her ears and earrings, she's smiling and happy.

Here are some pictures from right afterwards:

9 Weeks & a 2 Month check-up

Yesterday, Abbie was 9 weeks old and had her 2 Month check up with her pediatrician, Dr. Marino. 

She was her usual happy self when we arrived at the doctor's office.  I wish I could say the same for after we left...and for the rest of the day too.  After she got her shots, we could tell that she was in pain.  She only cried until I picked her up and held her; then she fell asleep.  But after she woke back up...she screamed and screamed and screamed.  Poor thing!  Her legs were very warm to the touch and whenever we moved her, she'd cry and whimper.  Made me so sad to see her like that  :(  As suggested, we gave her some infant acetaminophen, and that seemed to help a bit.  She didn't get a fever until today, and still it wasn't too bad-- 99.6 degrees.  Thankfully she's feeling better and going back to her usual cheerful and smiling self.  

Anyways, her doctor said that Abbie is doing great!  She's growing fast, which is typical for breastfed babies.  She now weighs 12 pounds 5 ounces, which puts her in the 75%ile for her age.  She is now also 23.75  inches long (wow!), which puts her in the 90 %ile.  Her head circumference is 40.5 centimeters which is also in the 90 %ile.  The doctor also checked her developing muscle tone and was very pleased.    She said Abbie's arms and legs were very strong.  Her next appointment will be when she's 4 months.

8 Weeks

This past week, Abigail has become quite the drool monster!  She's drooling like crazy, which makes me wonder if she's teething already.  It's too early for that, isn't it?  Ever since she's discovered her tongue, and that she can swirl around and push her spit out, she's been drooling constantly.  Apparently, she finds it pretty entertaining, since she is perfectly fine sitting, drooling and laughing to herself.  It's pretty darn cute! :)

Other than that, this past week, we've realized how much Abbie loves her mobile.  I put her in her crib sometimes with the mobile running, just so that I can do a couple things while still making sure that she's safe, happy and entertained. We got her the pink Princess mobile by Tiny Love, and she loves it!  It was the only mobile that would match her room, that still also got good ratings on Amazon.com, and also had the features we were looking for.  Anyways, she could just lay in her crib and stare at the little things spin around and listen to the music all day.  She just waves her arms and kicks her legs happily while smiling at the little flowers and animals spinning around and around.  The mobile also came with a remote control so we can turn it on or off from across the room...and it was pretty funny to see her reaction when we'd turn it off.  She'd have the saddest face and start whimpering.  But as soon as we start it back up, she'd have the biggest smile and start cooing and making her happy noises.

...starting to get concerned that her little friends stopped moving.  haha

Besides it being cute, it's also really neat to see that she's gotten so good at tracking, and she is able to notice changes in the stimulus around her.  What a smart girl! :)

Other than that, we've been working on tummy time with the baby.  She's not too fond of it, but she's getting better at lifting her neck.

She usually starts off pretty happy, but after a couple minutes, she can get a bit frustrated.

Next week, Abigail will be 2 months old!  I had always heard from friends who have kids to cherish every moment with her because time will just fly by....but WOW.  No kidding.  I can't believe that we've already spent 2 months with our little love.  It's just been so amazing to watch how she's growing so fast and constantly learning.  I'm loving every second of it!!!!

Oh yes, and also because she'll be 2 months, she's also got her 2-month doctors appointment, where she will be receiving her first shots.  :(   Although I know that it's completely necessary for her to receive her immunizations, I'm scared to bring her to the doctor to get them because I know that she won't like them.  But we're ready, and have some baby Tylenol ready too, just in case.

7 Weeks

Another week has flown by!  My little love is obviously growing quickly.  We weighed her this week, and according to our home scale, she was 11 pounds this week.  We didn't measure how long she is, but we can tell she's growing.  According to the Baby Center website, babies her age grow about a quarter inch per week starting at birth.  Also, she's starting to really develop some chubs on her, which makes her even cuter...(if that's even possible)  :)

A few specifics from this week:

Cry


I realized this week that my baby's cry is changing!  She used to have that very distinct cry that all newborns have.  But now, it's changed very subtly that maybe only I could really catch the difference, but still-  it's changing.  I can't tell if it's the pitch, or volume or something else, but when she cries, you can hear it switch over from a newborn cry to her new cry.


Hands


Abbie is all about her hands!  She has started reaching for and swatting at things.  If she's unhappy about something, she flails her hands and tries to swat at us.  If she doesn't want her pacifier, she swats at it until it gets knocked out of her mouth.  Also...she has recently discovered that she can put her hands in her mouth.  Once she finds her mouth, she sucks on her fist.  We think she's trying to find her thumb to suck on, but she has her thumb inside of her fist, so it's pretty interesting watching her get frustrated that she can't suck on any specific fingers.  As sad as I feel when I see her unhappy or upset, I don't want to help her find her thumb, because I don't want her to develop a habit of sucking on it.  She'll find it when she finds it, I guess.  Also, her hands are starting to be more open.  As most babies' hands are when they are first born, Abigail's hands had been constantly curled tightly into a fist.  But now her hands are usually open.


Vocal


My my!  She sure has gotten chatty!  :)  In just the past 2-3 days, we've noticed that Abigail has learned to make so many more sounds.  She had been doing her occasional gurgle or coo...but now, she's constantly making cute sounds.  When we talk to her, and even when we're not-- she seems to want to tell us about what she thinks about everything.  I LOVE it!


Smiley


I know I mentioned that she smiles a lot-- but now she smiles so much more!  Whenever she's happy about something, she smiles.  When she sees us, she smiles.  When we talk to her, she smiles.  When we make funny faces or sounds, she smiles.  At even almost seems sometimes like she's on the verge of laughing.


Video


I can't believe we haven't been recording any videos of her!  (Other than her birth, of course)  Granted, we don't have a video camera...but really, these days, who does?  Anyways, this week I started recording little clips of her-- little things that I know I'll miss when she grows up.  I've recorded her crying; with her daddy while he changes her diaper; while having her bath in the sink; and just times when she's just finished eating and is just laying there quiet and alert.  I regret not taking more videos of her before, but I guess better late than never!

6 Weeks

I can't believe my little girl is already 6 weeks old!  Time has flown, and she's already getting so big!  Since she's changing so much every week, and constantly learning and doing new things, I figured that it'd be a good idea for me to start jotting down any new things she does on a weekly basis.

This week, Abigail is noticeably staying awake for longer periods of time.  Before, she'd wake up and immediately start crying until she is fed.  She used to fall asleep towards the end of her feeding, and then we would change her, swaddle her, and then back to sleep she'd go.  Now, our routine is changing a bit.  She seems to wake up and lay there for a little bit-- happily looking around, kicking her legs and making her cute cooing and gurgling sounds.  Soon enough though, she'll cry to let me know she's hungry.  After eating, burping and being changed, she's still wide awake and usually very alert and happy.  She usually "talks" to us, smiles, and occasionally laughs in response to whatever we're doing.  She definitely loves it when we talk to her, play music, or even just make silly noises.

Besides this, Abigail has gotten a lot more expressive with her face and even with the sounds she makes.  She seems to be learning how to move and control the different muscles in her face.  She can raise her eyebrows, and I've even seen her raise them one side at a time, too.  She can move her lips and eyes to make different expressions, and she is learning to make more noises now.  We are definitely starting to be able to tell how she's feeling just by listening to her noises.

Her neck and back muscles are getting much stronger.  I admit, they always have been surprisingly strong for her age...even the nurses were surprised that she was almost able to turn over completely before she was 2 weeks old.  But now, she has much better control of her muscles, rather than the jerky random lifts and turns her neck was doing before.  She turns her head to face where ever she hears noise.    I doubt she can see far enough, but she sure loves to turn her head towards the TV to make it look like she's watching it.  Her eyes are able to track so much better now too!  She makes good eye contact, and can follow whatever she's interested in as long as it doesn't move too fast.

Also, Abigail is starting to learn and remember certain routines.  For instance, she knows our feeding, burping, and changing routine very well.  She can be crying hysterically because she's hungry...but when I put her to lay on her side on the Brest Friend, she automatically calms down a bit, and knows to open her mouth, because she's about to be fed.  Also, she knows the routine when her dad takes her to her room to change her diaper, although she's still not crazy about having her clothes changed;  she especially dislikes having the shirt or whatever go over her head and face.

This week, I also starting working on sleep training.  My friend had posted on facebook about letting her baby "cry it out."  Another mom friend of mine that I was talking to also mentioned to me how hard it is for her to put her 1 year old down to sleep, because he's so used to being rocked to sleep and held every time.  Apparently he can't fall asleep any other way.  I'm definitely not a fan of just letting the baby lay there and cry herself to sleep, but in an effort to make our routine a little easier and hopefully make putting her to sleep easier in the future...I've started putting Abigail down in her bed as soon as I see that she appears sleepy, but not completely asleep.  As soon as I put her down, she usually wakes up a bit.  But then, I give her her pacifier, give her a kiss on her forehead, and gently stroke her head and run my fingers through her hair. I will usually walk away from her sight and see if she can fall asleep on her own.  Sometimes she does.  But other times when she still is a little fussy, I'll turn on her puppy that plays white noise, and that usually helps her fall asleep.  She loves that thing!  It's funny because I had seen it at Target long before she was even born, and I always used to play with it and tell Michael that I wanted it for the baby.  He ended out getting it for her and gave it to me for Christmas, when I was still only 4 months pregnant.

Sleeping with her puppy

A couple last details:

• Likes:  being swaddled, toys with lights and music, pop music with a fast beat (especially from the Glee soundtrack),  white noise, being held/sat upright, vibration, laying on her mommy's chest
• Dislikes: baths, having clothes pulled over her head/face when changing her, being in her carseat/carrier too long if the car/stroller is not moving, 

Also....I know this is not something that Abbie is doing, but in the past week or two, I've been starting to understand her cries.  It's funny because I had read that parents can eventually be able to distinguish what the baby wants or needs by the sound of their cries.  I thought that was crazy, because it all sounded like an angry screaming to me at first.  But I realized that her cries do sound different!  I can't really explain it, or describe how each one sounds, but I can tell her hungry cry, from her exhausted and need to sleep cry.  She also has a "I don't like this, I'm too overstimulated cry."  It's the weirdest thing, but so cool at the same time.  I try and point out the differences to Michael, but I guess it still all still sounds like screaming to him, haha.  Maybe since he'll be home more, he'll learn them soon too.

Last but not least, here's a picture of my beautiful 6 week old!  I love this picture of her with her new glasses.  Haha...She's definitely ready for summer!  :)

Ridiculously cute :)

All Smiles :)

I'm not sure when the first time Abigail smiled.  As far as I remember, she has always smiled.  Even in one of the last memories I have with my dad-- he was visiting me in the hospital after having given birth to her, and he told me that she already knows how to smile.  I replied "No...it's probably just gas."

But no...actually, I don't think it's gas anymore.  My dad must have been right, because she does smile.  All the time, actually!  She smiles when she's sleeping.  She smiles when she wakes up and sees me.  She smiles when she hears music she likes.  She's just really a happy baby, I guess! :)

Anyways, this morning before her Daddy went to work, they were chatting...and I was able to capture this picture.  SUPER CUTE, right?!

Abigail loves her Daddy :)