Lauren's 1st Brush with Machinery and 15 Weeks

15 Weeks Old! (And enjoying cereal!)

As I mentioned in my last posting, Paul had to replace the pipes that lead used water away from the house because we found that the piping was actually like roofing paper, it was 57 years old and had a hole, the hole let mud in, and the pipe collapsed. He found LOT of tree roots cruising through the pipe as well...so it was time. Our neighbors were interested to see what we were doing (as they know that Paul is constantly working on one project or another around here). I told Paul that we may as well put in an irrigation system for the lawn since it was torn up and we'll have to level out the front yard anyway and reseed. In a way, the good thing is that we shouldn't have to have the plumbers come to fix or clean out our pipes for a LONG while and we never reseeded the yard earlier in the fall as we had planned to do.

Lauren now has 5 little buds where her teeth are trying to come through. She's been drooling like a crazy person and chomping on her hands! She kept coming home from daycare with marks on her hands. We started to watch what was going on and realized that she did it to herself!

In reading baby books, Lauren has meet ALL of the expected milestones for a 4 month old. I don't know what milestones she has met for a 5 month old (if any). She's rocking and rolling, trying to creep when on her belly. Her new favorite thing to do is sit up. She pitched a fit this morning because she was laid back so that I could clean out her nose. Paul sat her up and she grinned. She's hilarious!

She's playing with toys more and beams when she sees Paul! I'm still getting the love from her, but it is being shared more. She's still laughing, but we can't get her to laugh as she was for my dad.

Lauren is also eating solids twice daily. She gets rice cereal with bananas at school and a vegetable at home. She likes carrots and peas (just like me) and we had our 4th trial with green beans last night. It was the first time she hadn't spit the green beans out! She took the food from the spoon, grimaced at the taste, and squealed. It was funny!

She also has taken to pulling my hair. It seems like a security thing...I'll update more later. Someone wants green beans. =)

Visit with Grandparents Bernosky

Daddy reading Readers Digest to Lauren


Mommy and Lauren addressing Christmas cards (which will be late since I'm waiting for her 3 month pictures to come in. They'll be here December 16th.).


Lauren (sleeping) with her Grandma Bernosky


Lauren and her Papa on Thanksgiving Day

My parents came to town on Thursday to enjoy our annual Thanksgiving dinner together. We had a small dinner party, which was nice for Lauren's first Thanksgiving. Lauren got some quality time to spend with them. My dad had a blast with her--he got Lauren giggling so hard that we were all laughing! (Lauren had started to laugh about 4 or 5 days before Paul's mom came on November 14th. Her laughing impulse has grown extensively.) Her grandma didn't want to put her down...can you blame her? Paul spent most of the weekend outside working on digging a 12 foot trench in our front yard to replace the drainage pipe with a little help from Chris (thanks for all your help!!). When Paul did come in when it was too dark to work, Lauren got really excited to see him. It melted his heart--he seemed to have missed being with her. (I plan to try to get a picture of Paul and Lauren on the backhoe together before it gets returned.)



Lauren rolled over for the first time on her OWN last night (November 23). I put her down and she was rocking and rolling. I didn't figure she'd actually roll...and then she did! The neat thing was that Paul had popped his head in the door at just the time she did it, so he didn't miss it!



I also found what I think is a 5th tooth trying to break through! I was rubbing her gums after feeding her carrots to clean her mouth. It appears to be toward the back of her mouth on the bottom.

Speaking of feeding, Lauren has been eating us out of house and home! I had to increase her bottles to 7 ounces with each feeding, so she's eating 35-42 ounces a day! I've tried to feed her rice cereal, but she spits it out. (She gobbles down her carrots and even started to get excited when she saw her spoon and the carrot jar!) My mom got her some rice cereal with bananas. Lauren loved it! I fed her solids 3 times today along with 4-5 bottles so far...We're going to try green beans next.

Baby's First Thanksgiving and 14 Weeks Old

Here is Lauren at her first Thanksgiving. She had carrots after we all ate, as well as her 35-plus ounces of formula. (I anticipate that she's going through a growth spurt!) We had a nice day (except that we discovered we have a hole in the drainage pipe, so we had to dig up the front yard with a backhoe in order to replace the pipe).

A visit from Grandma Wade

Lauren getting ready for school with Mommy and Daddy


No pictures, please...I'm exhausted. (She would do this while I was pregnant in her, as evidenced in my ultrasound pictures!)



Lauren with Grandma Wade

Lauren's first picture with Santa

Lauren's Grandma Wade flew down from PA to visit her for 5 days. We had a LOT of fun! Grandma was initiated...Lauren pee'd, pooh-ed, and spit up on her grandma...cried, laughed, drooled...went for a walk, met Santa, went to the mall...and a whole lot of other fun things. Grandma enjoyed her time with Lauren and flew back to PA this morning (Monday). Lauren missed her grandma...

Lauren is teething more. One tooth on the bottom left feels differently. It had been hard and white, but now the white has spread more along her gums and is softer. Lauren's sleep has been really erratic this weekend. She's taken long naps but hasn't slept through the night (AHH!) since Thursday night. Eating habits have been good and she's been happy when awake. She's also awfully stuffy, so I think that is a problem. She's just going to be stuffy and have allergies.

We also worked on the house while Grandma Wade was here. We (okay, mostly Paul) textured the ceiling in the living room, as well as painted it. The walls were painted a new color. It's an earth tone so it looks like a brown-pink soil. It changes color depending on how the light hits it. We've also rearranged the living room. And tonight, we're putting in recessed lighting because the living room is so dark. I think all of the dust kicked up from this has bothered Lauren, but the weather change has as well.

13 Weeks

Lauren turned 13 weeks on Thursday, November 15. Here is an updated photograph. She's been pretty consistent with food, sleep, play, and giggles. She's become a very social, alert, and talkative baby! However, every time we attempt to call grandparents or video tape her converstations, she freezes and becomes quite serious.

Catching Up on Pictures

Paul's mom flew in from PA to visit Lauren today! While I had some time, I wanted to post some pictures from the past few weeks for you all to see. Lauren continues to grow and just refuses to stop! She now weighs 11 pounds, 6.5 ounces.


Lauren and her baby doll 11-07-07

Ivy, Kristi, and Lauren 11-10-07. Ivy was having her 1st birthday party, and this was the first birthday party Lauren attended. (Kristi is Ivy's mommy.)

Lauren eating carrots on 11-12-07...she was really hungry, so we've learned to give her formula, get her satisfied, feed her solids, then finish the bottle.

Mommy and Lauren 11-12-07

Mommy, Lauren, and Daddy 11-10-07

Lauren wearing mommy's shades--11-10-07

12 Weeks 11-08-07

Oh, my goodness! Lauren is growing a LOT! I think I felt a 4th little tooth bud, but she won't let me investigate further!

We're now eating between 6 and 7 ounces every 3 hours, giving Lauren about 36 and 42 ounces a day, right in the range she's supposed to be taking in for her age. She's gotten a little stuffy again, but it's been cold and the heater is on. Paul and I are a little stuffy, too, so I'm not worrying.

Lauren's been a real talker the past week! She loves to carry on conversations with Paul and me. Paul said tonight was her most vocal night. She really responds best when I sing the Itsy Bitsy Spider and a little song I made up for her to the tune of Where is Thumbkin?

Lauren supervised her daddy doing some remodeling tonight while I attended a PTA meeting. (Good to know that Lauren will watch her daddy while I'm not home! May not be a good thing for Daddy, but...) He said she was really talking and sat in her Bumbo for a long period of time. She was super excited to see me when I got home. (For the past week and a half, Lauren falls asleep on our ride home between 3:45 and 4:30. She's been sleeping until 6:00 when she wakes up for a feeding and 2 1/2 hours of play time.) I left when Lauren was still taking her afternoon nap, so I was quite a bit disappointed not to have any time to spend with her.

Lauren's Grandma Wade is coming next week to spend some time with her. I should have some more pictures to post while she's here.

11 Weeks Old

We don't have a lot to report this week, other than Lauren continues to grow and I continue to hate it! She's stopped eating as much as she had been. We can get at least 25 ounces down her in one day, but she should be eating at least 30 ounces a day for her age. With her teething, she's not eating as much. Her drooling has increased, as has her need to suck on her pacifier. She's discovered that she really enjoys chomping on her fists (and likes to chomp them both at the same time!) and chewing on our clothes. Both Paul and I had wet spots around our breasts where she had latched on our shirts and went to town!

She's doing a lot of talking, especially if we focus on her and hold a conversation. Lauren and I have been visiting our neighbors who also like to chatter with Lauren. We were so excited about her talking that we've called her grandparents...most of the time, after we're connected, she stops talking...

Lauren holding her own bottle. She did this on Wednesday and attempted again today. Paul helped her get a hold of it, but she couldn't hold it for long on her own. At least she's trying to be independent!

First Halloween 10-31-07

Harris the Lobster, Nick (A.K.A. Scooby Doo), Lauren the Calf


Harris the Lobster and Lauren the Calf


Moo...


Moo...

Lauren celebrated her first Halloween as a calf. (I kept calling her a cow before I thought that a baby cow is a calf...and she's a baby...) Paul picked out her costume. I had asked him if he asked Lauren if she wanted to be a cow. He said no but claimed that Lauren had kept saying, "MMM" while he picked it out. I asked Lauren if she liked her costume, and, believe it or not, she said, "Mmmm!" with a huge smile on her face! I wouldn't have believed it had I not witnessed it myself!

There was a costume parade at school earlier in the day. Nick and Harris came over to help Lauren celebrate after we visited our neighbors with Lauren in costume. She didn't mind the trick or treaters who came to the house wanting sweets. She was just as content as can be!

Even though we bought her a pumpkin, we forgot to carve it, so it still sits on the front porch.