The First Month- By the Numbers

Weight: 9 lbs. 2 oz.

Diaper size: 1

Clothes size: Newborn

Amount of food per feeding: 4 oz (but she has less feedings due to long naps)

# Consultants seen to help with breastfeeding: 5

# Days she was exclusively breastfed before acknowledging she needed more than I could provide on my own: 29

Maximum # hours slept through the night: 8

# hours spent fussing before that: almost 6

# of pooplosions: 2

# pooplosions on Mommy: 2

# pooplosions on Daddy: 0 (Clearly, we need to work on this)

# times the slipcovers on the couch washed to remove bodily fluids: more than I care to count

# Family members met: 9

Parties attended: 2

# compliments: too many to count

Amt of love inspired for her: infinite

Happy one month birthday!

It's hard to believe that Sweet Pea is one month old already. Now I completely understand the parent daze that everyone was talking about. I'll write another post with the numbers from the month, but it was quite an eventful day. My Corn Pop decided to do her very first impersonation....of Old Faithful. I was minding my own business, feeding her a bottle, talking on the phone, being smug about how under control I have this staying home alone thing, when suddenly a massive amount of the bottle she just partook came spewing back up, covering herself, me (of course) and the Boppy. Apparently I hadn't been watching her cues for burping close enough. This resulted in her first bath given by a solo parent. It went easier than expected and then she went down for a very long nap, giving Mommy some time to calm down from the excitement and get her act back together. Nothing like a baby to put you in your place. When Daddy came home we tried to do a little photo shoot, and I edited the picture to make it look better, but for some reason the edited version won't show up here. Please focus on her cuteness and not the mess in the background.

Check out my crib

Today was the first day we put Sweetness in her crib for a nap. It only took us nearly a month:) She looked so tiny in there but I know it'll be no time at all until we're lowering the mattress so she doesn't fall (or climb) out.

My Mad Scientist

Sometimes when Cutie Pie sleeps, her hair curls out in such a way that reminds me of a mad scientist. You can see a bit of it here, but you really need to see it around the back of the head as well to appreciate the full effect.

The New Normal

Friday night Scott and I ventured out to a restaurant. We met for lunch this week and were able to enjoy an entire meal while baby slept peacefully in her car seat. We made a plan- we would walk her in the neighborhood, get her to fall asleep in the carrier, transfer her to the car seat and then repeat our lunchtime coup. It partially worked. Sugar plum did fall asleep in the carrier, but woke up the minute I tried to transfer her to the car seat. She then proceeded to scream the entire ride to the restaurant and sounded so distressed in the parking deck that we stopped right then to take her out and carry her in the restaurant. Little Miss hates the car seat. Hates. it. So...we chose a restaurant that wasn't typically crowded on Friday nights, took her to a table in the back corner, and Scott ordered while I held her and got her to calm down. Once our food arrived, we had to take turns holding her while trying to eat our food. I'm going to have to start being selective about what I order in terms of whether it can be eaten easily with one hand.

It's a Miracle!

In an act of sheer desperation this afternoon, I put Sugar Pop in the bouncy chair so that I could heat up and eat some lunch in peace. She was ok with it for about one minute before she started fussing. However, because I didn't come to her rescue right away, she eventually calmed down and even fell asleep. Hello....2 am. I have a new weapon in my arsenal to get her to sleep. Now to be sure I use it for good and not evil.

How do you entertain a 3 week old?

Little Miss is getting more alert phases, which is good. Entertaining her, however, has proved difficult. She hates the bouncer, cries in the swing, and hasn't been too interested in the play mat. I was able to get her to look at the dog above in the picture for a few minutes before the sourpuss face came out. Right now all activities seem to involve holding her in some way. Good thing she's so adorable, and still pretty light.

My Daddy Rocks

I would like to formally apologize for last night and acknowledge my dad for being so awesome. Late last night, when I gifted Mommy with what we now refer to as 'The Great Pooplosion of May 2013' Daddy picked me right up and gave me a bath at 11:30 while Mommy got cleaned up. And when I started crying and couldn't be consoled, Daddy came in and tried every trick in the book, and even tried creating some new ones. And then, when Mommy delivered me to Daddy with the directive that she needed a break for a while, Daddy never complained or fussed. He took me, tried to calm me down, and then defrosted some of my favorite stuff (milk) so that I could enjoy it while going to sleep. And then he slept with me the rest of the short night, making him late for his first day back, but helping to restore Mommy's sanity. Thanks, Daddy- you're my superhero. Mom's, too:)

Welcome to Motherhood

11:15.  Scott in bed getting ready to go back to work tomorrow.  Baby has a huge blowout all over herself and me.  Awesome.  Believe me when I say that you don't want to see any photos of that.

Baby's first bath

Corn pop's cord came off, clearing the way for her first bath. We got all the stuff together and tried it today. You can see here that she actually kind of liked being in the warm water, but she was not a fan of getting her hair washed (yet) and most definitely didn't like coming out of the bath. We had to put her in the baby carrier and take her for a walk around the neighborhood to calm her down. But it is nice having a fresh, clean baby.

The Adorable Miss Sourpuss

This is the look we get when Little Miss has gone too long without eating and we're about to face a total meltdown.

The new diaper genie

I was shocked to learn when I was pregnant that hubs had never changed a diaper. I braced myself for future arguments. I held diaper-changing lessons in my head. And it was all completely unnecessary. After being coached through a few changes (though not using TN's 10 step method), the new papa proved quite capable and is now a pro. In fact, I never have to ask him to change baby because he usually volunteers. I think it has something to do with the pain little one inflicts on me through feedings, but I can't prove it and I'm not going to argue.

2 Weeks old and growing like a weed

Happy 2-week birthday, Corn Pop! In honor of Her Sweetness' birthday, we went for her 2 week checkup. In just a week she was able to put on 10 oz and get above her birthweight to 8 lbs 13 oz. Pretty soon she's going to be difficult to carry! She also grew from 21 1/4 to 22 inches. She's going from the 50th to 75th percentiles for weight, but is above the 90th percentile for height. Not sure where the height came from, but we'll see if she keeps it up. To celebrate all her growing, she asked me for some milk and a nap.

Uncle Jon comes to play

Tonight we were ready to resume our normal Sunday night dinners with Jon. Sure, he brought us pizza rather than all of us trying a new local restaurant, but it's a start, right? Once baby girl starts to get on more of a schedule and we both get more confident with this whole feeding thing, we may be ready to resume those fun dinners out. Meanwhile, Huck enjoyed getting to be part of the fun.

Happy Mother's Day to me

We're still moving slowly, and definitely on baby girl's schedule. To honor my first mother's day, Scott got me Swaffles, loaded up the stroller and we walked with baby and Huck to have a picnic lunch in the park. Baby slept through most of it and we were able to have a leisurely afternoon. We were able to get in a few pics, but they mostly make me realize that all the junk food that I ate while pregnant did catch up with me.

A Family Visit

Scott's sister and her family were able to swing through Nashville to meet baby girl. Here's a picture of his sister with all the cousins. They all look so sweet together.

Pretty as a Princess

This is one of sugar plum's first photo shoots. We were able to borrow a cradle made by my great-uncle. While the cradle isn't entirely shown here, it was a big lesson working with a model who wasn't entirely cooperative. We got about 5 shots in before she decided it was too cold and we got nothing but sour puss faces. She looks pretty darn cute in this one, though.

What's in a nam...

What's in a name?

Juliet:
"What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet."

Romeo and Juliet (II, ii, 1-2)

When we share our daughter's name, people take a minute to process it.  I'd like to take a minute to explain why we arrived at the name we gave her.  

Anna Pine

(pronounced Anne-uh)  We liked the name Anna and different variations of the name ran in the family.  Pine is actually after the Piney River, not the tree. Many people know that we enjoy paddling and the Piney is hands down our favorite river.  It's a beautiful, spring-fed clear river that is cool and refreshing in the summer.  It's great for paddling, swimming, and fishing.  It is definitely our happy place and we find peace and relaxation when we're out there.  Our daughter is our new happy place and we wanted to give her a name which reflected that.  

Welcome to the world, baby girl!

This is one of the first pictures taken at the hospital. While we never intended to wind up there, we had some wonderful nurses and wound up with a beautiful, healthy baby. And she was a big baby! Sugar plum weighed in at 8 lbs 9 oz and was 21 1/4 inches long.