4 Months Old

Another month has come and gone with the quickness. I've decided to be a little more structured with this post, so here's some things I know about out sweet little baby Colette:



 

 

Weight & Height: I'll update this one after our 4 Month Well Check on Thursday. (Oh no! More Shots! :'( )

Sleep: Colette is very good at putting herself to sleep. She generally goes to sleep around 9:30, wakes up around 6-7 to eat and goes back to sleep until 9 or 10. Lately she's been waking up and wiggling around in her crib between 2-3, but puts herself right back to sleep in the matter of just a couple of minutes.

Clothes/Diapers (Sizes): Right now we're in 3-6/6month clothes and size 2 diapers. And, call me completely out of my mind, but over this last weekend I purchased a small amount of cloth diapers. I don't know what's wrong with me. I have never ever wanted to use them, but for some reason thought I should give them a try. They'll be here late this week so I'll let you know how it goes......

Diet: Still 100% breastfed. We plan on waiting until she's at least 6 months before starting anything else. Although.. you should have seen her eyeing my cheeseburger on Sunday...

Baby Gear Love: Our stroller. We have one of the big Graco RoadRunner travel systems and we love it. When we were on our little outing in Gatlinburg a few weeks ago, we heard a couple different people say how they "are so glad they don't have to use a big stroller anymore" or "can't imagine pushing that thing around" (not to us, but definitely loud enough for us to hear..). But I really love it. I can put everything I need and more in it, and it's still really easy to maneuver. I really don't like to carry things (purse, bags, jacket, drinks) so I think we really found the perfect stroller for us. And it's easy to take around our big yard too.

Milestones/Firsts: Rolling over! Not consistently, but she has rolled back to tummy twice in the last week. She's trying really hard to roll tummy to back but she just can't get over that arm yet.

Likes: Laughing, grabbing, chewing

Dislikes:...not a whole lot. She doesn't like to be put down in her crib if she isn't tired. But that's about it.

Things I Don't Want to Forget: All of it. It seems like I've already forgotten things from just a few short months ago. My favorite part of the day is when she wakes up and I bring her into our room for morning snuggles and laugh time. Sooo cute.

---

 

I'm really excited for warmer weather to be rolling around. (Minus mosquitoes and ticks) Colette could really use some outdoors playtime. I am a bit worried about allergies though. We took her around the yard over the weekend and she was sneezy and red-eyed. Of course all of our trees and flowers are bloomed out and we live in one of the top 3 cities for terrible allergies.. so I guess I should have expected it.

I got a new camera and lens last week that I'm super excited about. (Nikon D610 and Micro-Nikkor 105mm lens) I took a couple of shots of my niece with it while she was here. Next up are spring/Easter photos. I'm so excited!

[caption id="attachment_796" align="aligncenter" width="401"] My sweet niece, Aidan[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_795" align="aligncenter" width="560"] Our peach tree blossoms. And spider web.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_794" align="aligncenter" width="560"] Our SUPERSTAR![/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_799" align="aligncenter" width="400"] Sweet Girl[/caption]

 

A Fantastic Weekend

I'm so glad we didn't decide to cancel our weekend getaway. We had the best time in Gatlinburg and the weather was excellent. Colette  did so well on her first vacation! She only got upset twice and both times we were in the car and she was just tired/hungry. We strolled up and down the strip, visited the aquarium, shopped, had a fancy dinner with my mom and Steve and spent some quality time lounging around in our hotel room playing with the baby.

Cory and I were both surprised at how attentive Colette was at the aquarium. She quite enjoyed watching all the fishes. I also had my first experience with nursing out in public, so that was interesting. It was semi-private as it was in a dark aquarium room, but alas, I succeeded. I don't have any issues with the idea of nursing in public, my problem lies in the awkwardness of getting everything situated. Not to mention Colette flails around like a squirrel falling from a tree. We'll get there one day I think.

[caption id="attachment_790" align="aligncenter" width="532"] Da fisssshhhes[/caption]

 

Both the aquarium and Saturday dinner at Park Grill were pretty noisy, but Colette didn't seem to mind like I thought she would. I could probably brag on her all day. We did discover she's not much of a fan of sleeping in her pack-n-play, she kicks at it like crazy. Just can't get comfortable in it.

She's officially trying to roll over now. Over the weekend is when she really started trying. And she's so close. Just needs a little more push to get over that chubby little arm. :) IT'S HAPPENING TOO FAST. I just packed away most of her 0-3/ 3 month pj's. Moving on into the 3-6 month category. I'll probably say that things are happening too fast in every blog post from now on.

[caption id="attachment_789" align="aligncenter" width="560"] Tuckered out[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_788" align="aligncenter" width="560"] Just chillin' in the hotel! Love that baby.[/caption]

I'm finding it crazy how love and joy have evolved and intensified in my life. (I know at least one of you out there is scoffing at my mushy sentiments...) In these few short months I can really see and feel the difference in how I love, not just Colette, but Cory and all of my other family and friends. The importance of family means something different now as well. So much love.

Like I told Cory while we were walking to the aquarium on Saturday, I'm just very happy.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6Sxv-sUYtM

 

Holy 3 Months and Teething, Batman

Our little pumpkin is officially 3 months old now. My, how she's grown. She's always had personality, but it's amazing how much it shines through these days.



 

Look how fast that hair is growing! Also, we apparently taught her to curtsey this month.

She's happy and giggly (and bubble blowing) most of the time, but let me tell you, last night was probably the worst night we've had in the crying department. We tried rocking her, bouncing her, laying her down, nursing, paci.... alllll the things that normally work. After a solid 30-45 minutes of serious crocodile tears I got a cold wet wash cloth and let her bite on it and it seems to help a little. We finally got out the RazBaby pacifier and that helped even more. So I've officially diagnosed her as teething. We've suspected it for a little while now since she's been chewing on everything (her hands, her bibs, Sophie.... anything she can pick up), and she's quite the droolbox. An adorable droolbox.

In the sleeping department we've regressed a little. She's still going to bed around10:30-11, but instead of sleeping through til 7ish, she also wakes up at 4. It could definitely be worse, so I can't complain there. I think now that she's a little older we'll probably start getting her into a more solidified routine. The hard part about that is that we're not really routine people. We're more of the "fly by the seat of your pants" kind of people, so we'll see how that goes.

We got to spend this last weekend at Nana's house in Knoxville. It was a beautiful weekend with lots of park time, kite flying, family, and food. There's always food. So grood. And this weekend we're going to Gatlinburg, maybe. The trip was part of my Christmas present from Cory. But after last night we're not totally sure it's a good idea. We definitely don't want to ruin someone else's weekend with a screaming little one at night. But maybe we will. Who knows.

That's all for now folks. I leave you with these sweet baby pictures. We're so proud!







 

Snow and My First Week Back

Well. It was certainly an eventful first week back at work. Up bright an early on Monday to feed the little one and pack her things for her day at Grama's. It wasn't as hard as I imagined it would be. Don't get me wrong, I love that little baby and would snuggle her all day, but I also got a lot done while she was away. I think it helped to know she was just down the street too. AND I was awfully busy getting back into work mode. Tuesday was pretty much the same. Wednesday was quite different, though. Cory decided to stay and work from home due to the impending snow. His mom came over to our house to watch the baby while we worked for the day.

The snow wasn't much to speak of by the time work was over. Later into the night it really started sticking.. It was a really heavy, wet snow. The electricity started flickering around 9 and I immediately filled up some jugs of water (we have well water so if we lose power, we also lose water) and gathering candles and the flashlight. After putting the baby down for the night around 11 I went to bed as well. A little after midnight Cory woke me up to tell me the power was officially out. We pulled the pack-n-play into our bedroom and moved the baby (who did not wake up, hooray!). Power was still out when we got up. I had a conference call at 8am that I had to dial into, but I was pretty useless for anything else work related without electricity. We eventually trekked (via car) the couple of miles over to Cory mom's for the day.. or so we thought it would only be a day. 25,000 without electricity in the Chattanooga area. We came back to the house a few times a day to make sure the dogs were okay, but we stayed at Cory's mom's Thursday, Friday, and part of Saturday. Our electricity was finally restored late Saturday afternoon.

The saddest part of the electricity being out is all the food that was lost in the refrigerator including, but not limited to, our Valentine's dinner of a 2lb porterhouse steak. I was so sad. I was able to salvage the stash of breastmilk I had in the freezer, so that's good news.

We're lucky we were able to get out of the house and have somewhere to stay. I can't imagine being in the cold house with a baby and no electricity.

For Valentines Day I met Cory for lunch at the best little burger place in Chattanooga, Merv's. So good. For dinner we got (free) Olive Garden take out and spent the night watching TV and playing with the baby. It was supposed to be a no gift holiday, but alas... that husband of my got me a gorgeous diamond and pear necklace. Love that guy. He's too much. We were in Orlando at Magic Kingdom last Valentine's Day, but I think it's safe to say that this year won by a landslide. All because of a sweet little baby.

The electricity was restored just in time, too. Colette's (fairy)godmother came down for the night to visit on Saturday. Much to her dismay, Colette was not very happy to see her. Poor thing. She was actually pretty cranky Saturday and Sunday... and well.. last night too.

And now we're back to another work week. Our nanny started yesterday. She's very sweet. I'll report back on how having the baby in the house is once we've done it a few more times.

Here's a few shots from Snowpocalypse and Valentine's Day.



[caption id="attachment_771" align="aligncenter" width="560"] Our yard is somewhat of a tree limb graveyard now[/caption]





[caption id="attachment_774" align="aligncenter" width="560"] Sleepy giggles[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_775" align="aligncenter" width="560"] Her eyes are starting to turn brown :)[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_776" align="aligncenter" width="560"] someone loves big bird[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_777" align="aligncenter" width="560"] love[/caption]

Happy Valentine's Week

We took these a few weeks ago, but thought we'd save them for Valentine's Week. The outfit has little shoes that go with it, but she was having NONE of that! Kicked them off instantaneously. Still adorable.



[caption id="attachment_767" align="aligncenter" width="560"] Sweetness![/caption]

The Sickness and Other Fun Tales

I certainly didn't want to waste a single day of my very last week of maternity leave..... and then I woke up at 3am on Wednesday with the most amazing stomach virus. It was so fun.

Cory's mom came over and watched the baby while I did a lot of sleeping and not moving. My fever finally broke around midnight and I couldn't be more grateful for a new day to roll around. I was MUCH better on Thursday. It was hard to not really be able hold my sweet little girl, not only because I was sick, but because I was incredibly tired and my arms felt like jello. I can only hope and pray Colette doesn't get it. I'm not sure I'm prepared to make hospital visits.

We met with the potential nanny on Friday and I'm happy to report we're going to hire her! She's young, but Cory and I both agree that she'd be a good fit for us. We'll be asking her to start next Monday.

So, I guess I'm as ready as I'll ever be to go back to work! I've already been getting emails for things to catch me up on all I've missed. I do quite enjoy my job, but it's going to be a lot to take in when I first get back.

And now, Cory is working on getting the baby to sleep.... and I should do the same (for myself.... the baby probably doesn't need both of us to put her to sleep...) I have a million errands to run tomorrow. Babies R Us, Sams Club, JoAnn's, Walmart, Publix..... I already feel like I need a nap.

The Final Countdown

It is officially my last week of maternity leave. (WAAAAHHHHHH!)

Still haven't nailed down a caregiver just yet. Fortunately we don't have to rush that.

We've got big news in the Taylor household. Someone is learning to use her hands! On Friday I was watching her kick on her kick-n-play piano mat... then she sorta stopped and picked her little fist up... stared at it... and then hit it against the hanging frog. It was adorable. You could just see all the little synapses firing in her little bitty head. And now just a few days later, she's starting to grasp things and pull them towards her mouth. Happening all too fast. Makes me sad for all the little things like this that I'll miss during the day. We'll just have to tell whoever is watching her that if she does something new, not to tell us... that way we can pretend it's the first time when we see it later.

On another note, I picked up a side job last week (Thanks Abbey!) doing some photoshop work. Finally putting that ole graphic design degree to some use. AND Cory is finally being hired as a contractor at his job. He had previously been an intern.

OH! And we had Colette's 2 month Well check on Tuesday. She's 12lbs 4oz. She had 5 out of 6 vaccinations (1 oral, 4 shots..). They were out of the dTap at the moment, so we'll be going back to get that one later. She squalled for about 2-3 minutes and then she was fine. Slept a little more the rest of the very snowy day.

It was certainly an exciting week.

This week I plan to relish all my day time with that sweet sweet baby of mine. Next week is going to be rooooough.

[caption id="attachment_759" align="aligncenter" width="560"] Play Time![/caption]