6 Weeks

Lauren has turned 6 weeks old today. She had a good night last night, sleeping a little over 7 hours. She started to eat better than the two days before and was generally happy today. (She did, however, pee all over my bed this morning as I was rushing to get out of the house to a doctor's appointment!) She was all smiles and talk until about 10:30 am. Then she pretty much cried the rest of the day. Nothing would pacify her except for me to hold her with a bottle in her mouth. As it got later in the afternoon, around 4:30, that wouldn't even work. I tried quite a few different things to calm her, but she wasn't satisfied. As you can see in the picture, she was not happy and every time she would calm, I couldn't get to the camera before she'd start crying anew. She has grown a LOT! She has outgrown several pajamas and onesies moving from newborn to 0-3 months. Our problem with 0-3 months is that they are large around her middle and I don't think that they will accommodate her growth lengthwise. I think she's just going to be a long, skinny kid! Please say a prayer for Lauren that she has a better day tomorrow. She's just so tired and refuses to take a nap. (She actually, and I kid you not, will sleep with her right eye open just a touch so that she can see if I try to put her down...then she's WIDE awake!)

Some new milestones that we've observed in the past week...she shed her first real tear Tuesday. She laughed at me on Tuesday when I was being silly. The laugh sounded like a little bark and she repeated it on Wednesday. She smiled at me several times very broadly when I sang, "If you're happy and you know it," which I've sang to her at least 3 or 4 times a day. I think she recognizes it! And I was singing along with the radio on Wednesday afternoon as we were playing. The song was "Lean on Me"--Lauren looked at me with the most loving face and just grinned and cooed when I sang to her. Talk about melting your heart!!!

Lauren will start daycare on Monday, Oct. 1. She'll go half-days to get adjusted and will be fulltime on Oct. 8. Wish us luck!! I'm a little nervous to relinquish my control over her 24-7, but I know it will be good and healthy for all of us to have a break and we'll appreciate the time we have together more.

Talking to Daddy

Lauren and Paul were having a nice conversation on Monday night. Paul was asking Lauren if she wanted to do or have certain things, like ponies and kitties and the such. Lauren didn't respond. Paul asked her if she wanted to watch Nascar, and she immediately started cooing and bouncing up and down in excitement! He asked about a few other girly things then asked if she wanted to ride on her Grandpa Wade's tractor. She REALLY started going then! Paul started explaining details of the tractor and tried to get her to coo again, but she had expressed her opinion and was ready to move on. Maybe we'll have a tomboy!

Lauren's First Boo-Boo

Lauren had an accident this past Saturday. While enjoying the fantastic vibrating seat her Grandma Wade gave to her, the seat retaliated for some reason or another. I was in the shower and Lauren was in her seat waiting for me to get out. (I always take her in the bathroom when I shower, if she's awake.) Her vibrating seat has an attachment with some toys for her to play with. She really likes to hit the zebra with rings and the elephant with the mirror. However, in the two checks of her while still in the shower, she was perfectly content and playing with the toys. As I got out, I looked at her and noticed that her face was exceptionally red, as though she was in the middle of a bowel movement. (They are very difficult for her.) She started crying when I asked her what was wrong. It took a few seconds for me to register that her toys were lying on top of her head, not in front of her. I felt horrible! Of course Paul was at work. There wasn't anything I could do but console Lauren until she calmed. Then I took the pictures. The toy scraped her head a little and gave her two little goose eggs. They were gone by Sunday. This was the first toy-induced accident that Lauren has had. (Her first ouchie was when she was two days old and Paul trimmed her nails and part of her finger tip!)

Looks Reminiscent of Mommy

Lauren has a few quirks that I feel need mention...

She typically will pump her right leg when I'm changing her diaper which makes it almost impossible to fasten a new diaper or remove the soiled one. I tell her that she needs to stop hitting the gas and hit the brake! (I have gotten a few smiles out of this!)

Lauren has a habit of raising her right hand, just for the heck of it. Of course, I tell her that she can't raise her hand to be sure (like the deoderant commercial) because she isn't old enough to wear deoderant! She usually just looks at me. She'll eat this way and is especially sure to raise her arm when I'm trying to change her!

I had her in her vibrating seat the other day when I was taking a shower. (I'm afraid to leave her elsewhere when I'm showering unless she's asleep, so she gets strapped in!) I accidently bumped the bar with the toys on it. The bar, I found out, wasn't secured completely, so it fell onto the tiled bathroom floor. Lauren gave me a LOOK--and what is especially scary is that it was the exact SAME dirty look that I give Paul when he annoys me! Talk about being her mother's daughter!

Everyone at my school, Ace Hardware, and our family who have met Lauren all agree--she looks JUST like her mama! I kind of feel badly for Paul, but we think she has his nose and eyelashes. She just may have some curly hair, too! We won't be surprised if she does.

Lauren is cooing a LOT more often now, often accompanied with smiles. I get more smiles than Paul, but he got his second smile from her tonight...for no reason. He beamed. I think he's a little jealous that Lauren prefers me, but she's with me all of the time and I get up at night with her, so she's more used to me than him. Tables will shortly be turning when I return to work. Lauren has also responded in a positive manner when I sing to her. She most frequently smiles when I sing "When You're Happy and You Know It..."

Paul has been pushing Lauren's strength by helping her to stand when he's holding her because she's holding her head up for longer periods of time with great strength. Last night, she was standing on his legs with his hands loosely around her arms. She kept standing! Tonight, after Paul went to bed, I put Lauren on the spare bed on her belly. She was doing a fantastic job of raising her head and holding it for at least a good 30-45 seconds. All of a sudden, she rolled over! I was as surprised as her! She cooed and I cooed in response. I put her back on her belly and grabbed the video camera. And you know that she refused to roll again. However, she did keep her head raised. She is super strong. I know she'll probably be moving and shaking very soon. I'm sad about this but excited, too, to know that she's so healthy and strong.

We also had Lauren's 1st month pictures taken at Walmart before going home to PA. We only got one good picture of Lauren because she wasn't in the mood to cooperate. We did get one of the 3 of us, too. I'll try to scan them in to post on the blog when we get them.

The baby loves her pacifier! I really didn't want to give one to her, but she has this crazy sucking need and really needs it to stay content. She's gets pretty riled up when she cannot have it (or we've dropped it). It's especially great after eating or at bedtime. She gets so possessive of it that she will hold it in her mouth with one or both hands, especially when she's ready for a nap or bed. It's really kind of cute! She also keeps a hand near her mouth or on her cheek when she eats. This hand often strays to the side of her bottle as she helps hold it there. I think she's afraid to lose those things that mean so much to her that she keeps tabs on them!

5 Weeks

Lauren turned 5 weeks old on Sept. 20. I think she has really lengthened and gained weight. I go to the doctor on Monday to check on my ear infection (I can finally hear out of the ear, but I have ringing), so I hope to have her weighed. She is still sleeping most of the night, 5-7 hours, waking for a feeding and sleeping for another few hours. She's still having some trouble with her bowel movements, but more often than not, we are surprised when we open her diaper. It usually works out that Paul gets the surprises and I get the screaming and grunting.

Lauren is eating a solid 5 ounces every 3 1/2 to 4 hours. We tried putting her on the Wal-mart brand of formula to save some money, but it goofed her system. After 1 day, she screamed all night and had really hard poo. She also spit up at least twice after each feeding which totaled more than her entire spit up record in the first 4 week. I got her back on the Enfamil Prosobee and she's not spitting up as much. Her poo is still hard but it seems more like before. She's doing well again and is more happy.

We're seeing her more interactive with us and some toys. She's intrigued by the outdoors and fresh air, so we try to get her out each day. She loves the sunshine and smiles at it. She looks at ceiling fans, even when they aren't moving, and talks to them. Her talking has also increased and she prefers to talk and smile at me. She visited South Newton and talked a lot for the teachers there. She slept at Ace Hardware during her visit to see Daddy. We have a mirror next to her changing station. She loves to look in it and coo. I think she looks at my reflection most of the time, but I've watched her watching herself. She really is a good baby and we cannot complain. We're all a lot more used to each other and Lauren seems to be developing her own little system of sleeping and eating which is working a bit better with mine. We've gotten her to sleep in a bassinette in PA and in her crib here!

Trip to PA

We left for PA on Sept. 13. Lauren was to be baptized and we wanted her to meet the family. We also had the annual Wade gun shoot. However, we got home at 2:30 am on Friday. There were so many things to do!

Lauren did exceptionally well on the ride up. We stopped 3 times for us, not her. Each time we changed and fed her. She slept most of the ride, but she occassionally looked out the window or played with her bugs on her carseat (toys, not the real deal!).

Everyone was so excited to meet her! She met all of her great grandparents (except those in Arizona!) and cousins, both first and second on the Wade side. On Friday, she went to her first weiner roast and on her first hayride with her daddy and me. (It had rained and was cold, but we had her bundled up in clothes, blankets, and in her travel system.) Paul just put her, stroller and all, on the wagon. She slept. There were about 75-100 people at the weiner roast. All were excited to meet Lauren!

On Saturday, we visited some friends and family and family came to visit us at Paul's parent's house. It was a very long day, but Lauren did well. She smiled a lot, ate even more, and played in the vibrating seat her grandma Wade got her. She was really interested in the toys on the vibrating seat and kept hitting them. It is extremely evident how well-loved this child is!

On Sunday, we went to McCray United Methodist Church where Paul attended from infancy until we moved to NC. It was very important to us to have Lauren's infant baptism here with our families. Both sets of our parents, my sister, great-grandparents McCaslin, great-grandma Williams, great-grandma Wade, Aunt Ivy and Uncle David, John, Jess, Evie, Jeremy, Laura, Kolby, Kasey, Kyler, Charlotte, Aunt Sherry and Uncle Luke, Aunt Brenda, Uncle Scott, Kyle, Garrett...I hope I'm not leaving out any family...were all in attendance for her baptism. The pastor who is working at the church is not fully ordained and could not perform the baptism himself, so another pastor was there to do the actual baptism. Our old pastor, Pastor Bob, came to be apart of the celebration. Reverand Sanford, who performed the baptism, had gone to the River Jordan and collected Holy Water for baptisms, which he used for Lauren. Lauren slept through the service until the water was placed on her head. Paul's cousin video taped the service for us so we have it to watch later.

After the service, we returned to Paul's parent's and prepared for the gun shoot. There were about 60 people in attendance, family, friends, and community members. Of course we ate plenty and enjoyed the company. It was pretty cool in the morning (I wore a turtleneck to church!) but it warmed up a bit in the afternoon. Everyone left by 6 pm and we were all exhausted. Lauren did a fantastic job with being held by so many people. She didn't seem to mind not knowing them, but when she heard her mama's voice, you bet she looked my way!

Despite the changes in her schedule and all of the new people, Lauren didn't miss a beat and was her normal self. She ate and slept when she wanted. She also increased the number of feedings as well as the amount. She was eating 4 ounces every 3-4 hours when we left PA.

4 Weeks

Lauren turned 4 weeks old on Sept. 13. She is starting to eat 3-4 ounces every 3-4 hours. She went to the doctor on 9-12. She had grown a half-inch in two weeks (21 1/2") and is now 8 pounds, 1 ounce!! Sleep is between 5 and 7 hours straight! She is pretty happy.

Update

Lauren has been doing really well lately. She's been more alert and more interested in what is going on around her. She's really attentive to her mama's voice and has a tendency to look toward my voice if I'm not directly near her! She's been giving out lots of smiles to visitors and finally smiled at her daddy this morning!! She also seems to be interested in toys. We have these little bug toys velcroed to the handle of her carseat. Yesterday she was watching them. While we were at the doctor's office this morning (oh, yes. Mama has an ear infection! Can you believe that?!) Paul entertained Lauren with the bugs and she was attentive and excited by the movement and sounds they made.

We've discovered that she will sleep alone on the guest bed. We aren't sure if it's the smell or feel of the comforter on the bed or the hum of the computer in the office. We're going to try both out tonight to find what works for Lauren. If it means moving a computer into her room so she'll sleep in her crib, then so be it! (She slept from 10:20 pm to 5:20 am!!)

Lauren has also increased the amount of formula she's eating. The average for the weekend was about 22 ounces (where she'd been taking 14 oz. before). We also moved her to the faster flowing nipple which has helped tremendously. We think she may have gotten tired (or was being lazy) with the slower nipples, so we tried the faster and after a few messes, found that she does better.

Overall, we seem to be finding our groove. There is less crying (I attribute that to the soy formula), longer sleep periods (yea--but I still can't sleep well because I'm worried that she'll stop breathing so I check on her constantly), more eating, and general happiness in our home. She still loves to be snuggled (constantly) so I give in, knowing that she won't be this size for long. I'm really excited to see the changes each day and each day brings something new.

Bath Time!

Lauren took her first tub bath on Saturday. She really appeared to enjoy herself. She didn't mind me wiping her down with the wash cloth. (Paul wanted to give Lauren a little privacy, so he insisted on giving her a wash cloth bikini for pictures!) Paul rinsed her off as I finished, trying to keep her warm as I moved on to a new area. She seemed to slide down the little bath incline toward her feet where she had access to more water. Paul had to keep pulling her back up. She did not like it when we turned her over to wash her back and bottom. She got a little squirmy and started to fuss a bit. The major crying began, however, after her bath. She did not want to be wrapped up in a towel! Lauren was so cold! I wrapped her in a towel and a blanket to warm her up, then lotioned her down as I thought she would tolerate it. She pitched a fit when I tried to put on clean clothes. Once she was all done and cuddled back into a blanket, she fell asleep. I think nighttime baths might be something we can use as part of her bedtime routine as she gets older. Overall, bathtime was a good experience for us all!

Growing SO Quickly!

On Friday night, Lauren was fighting sleep (AKA our nightly ritual). I was talking to her like I normally do, telling her I love her (and would love her even more if I could go to bed!), calling her "mama's girl," etc. Something caught her attention--she cooed at me! This was the first articulation from her that wasn't crying! I was stunned! We have hit a milestone--now the question is: Will she ever stop talking once she starts? (And I know that some of you out there will say NO--she'll take after her mama!)

She's also trying to learn how to suck her thumb. However, the problem exists that she loves to tuck her thumb under her pointer finger--on both hands--so she gets extremely aggrevated because her fist won't fit into her mouth. Paul has been working with her on extending her thumb to suck. Friday was the first time that she was actually able to do this! She isn't consistent, but she's trying. However, she didn't seem to really enjoy her thumb as much as she thought she would. She made a face and tried sucking her fist again shortly.

The pictures above are from playtime September 8. I'm working with her to get used to having some time out of my arms. She actually played for abot 10 minutes before getting restless. We also read 2 stories that Aunt Suzy and Nick got for Lauren, as well as one from my previous principal, Sarah. The ocean wonders toy she's playing on came from Aunt Brenda. There is a ball at Lauren's feet that she kicks--very well. She noticed her reflection in the mirrior for the first time as well as a fish with a crinkly tail.

3 Weeks Old!

Lauren turns 3 weeks old today! I can't believe that in a week, she'll be a month old! It has gone very quickly. I have enjoyed seeing her changes and watching her develop (when she isn't crying--her new thing). She likes to try to suck on her thumb only she puts it under her pointer finger, then gets upset when she tries to suck, can't, and can't understand why her fist doesn't fit in her mouth! Her eyelashes have also gotten longer and darker. She may have Paul's eyelashes. There have been 3 times (once at the doctor's office yesterday) that I've talked to Lauren and she makes eye contact and just smiles at me. The doctor said he was shocked that she was doing that because the "social smile" is usually seen in 2-3 month olds. Lauren is also kicking her legs and arms, trying to hold her bottle (even with a little success!), and rolling onto her stomach from her side. She has an extremely strong grip and sucking pattern--extremely strong for being so young! She prefers stomach sleeping. We've allowed this because she can lift her head when on her tummy and move it side to side, even when sleeping. She has even gotten so mobile during sleep that she's moved 90 degrees in her crib from where I put her to where I pick her up when she wakens. She really prefers to sleep ON me, but I don't sleep well and then I have a tough time managing myself throughout the day. And on top of that, Lauren LOVES to be held...and will scream and cry when I put her down, even to brush my teeth!

I tried to get some good facial shots of Lauren today, but I may have to try later. She was angry with me because I had changed her diaper and her onesie and wasn't about to cooperate. Hopefully I can do that once Paul gets home tonight.

Oh! She has gained 3 ounces in the past week, putting her at 7 pounds, 9 ounces. I'm trying to fatten her up, but she just seems to want to grow longer rather than rounder!