Vlog #3

Hey everyone! Things are going pretty well over here. Vada has had a couple of rough nights, but that's probably due to a growth spurt. When you all see her next week, she'll be HUGE! hehe! We went to MSU's Museum today, which was kind of disappointing, it was super small and only had three exhibits. There was a pretty interesting one, though, of a bunch of different quilts. Chris' mom would have really liked that one, which is why we recorded a bit of it for you all to see.

Yesterday, I got to go to lunch with two of my cousins, Kelly and Danielle, Kelly's two children, and my Aunt Lois. It was a ton of fun and I'm so glad they got to meet Vada. Kelly's kids are getting SO BIG! Her youngest, Ashton, is a total cutie pie, I could just pinch him all day.

Other than that, this week has been pretty uneventful. Vada and I have spent a lot of time looking around the apartment and "talking". She's practicing using her voice, it's really adorable. I think she's on the verge of finding her hands, too. I'm really excited for that!

I haven't been up to much stuff on my own lately. I'm really hoping to get in for a hair cut soon, but that'll probably have to wait until after we get back from our mini-vacation back home. I'm trying to grow it out for Jessica's wedding, so we'll see how that goes! Speaking of her wedding, I'm hoping to get some stuff to work on here soon from her, so Jessica, give me some work! I want to help! I'll research something, or write something, whatever you need! :)

Without further ado, here's Vada's 8 week video. I'm sorry it's so short, I seem to have forgotten to record a lot this week. Next week will be better, I promise!

Still alive!

My little girl had quite the day yesterday! Mom took her shopping at Kohl's and Target for some new duds, and she apparently slept through most of it. This is great because she rarely naps during the day but boy does she need to. Check out these cutie clothes!

Her sleep schedule has been a little wonky the past few days since getting her shots - she had a slight fever the day after and didn't sleep much. We've also been trying to go without giving her the antacid medication to see if she's still got reflux issues. The past couple of nights she's been more irritated than usual, so we've given her the medication which seems to help a lot. She must be having some heartburn or something which is keeping her awake. I'm going to call the doc today to see about refilling that prescription.

I am finally at the last day of my first week of 10's...it hasn't been easy but not incredibly hard either. The hardest part I think is trying to fit everything in once I get home. Spending time with Vada and getting some 'me' time afterwards doesn't always work out. Last night she just did not want to fall asleep. She was up till my 11pm bed time for some reason. I get to see her a bit before she's latched on to Mom for the bed-time routine, and lately I've been having to take her and put her into what I call "Daddy position": butt against my stomach, legs up to my chest, bent at the waist looking up at me. I bounce her on my stomach and walk her around the house, and it usually gets her sleepy enough to where she'll nurse with Mom and pass out. It didn't work out so well last night though. She fell asleep a bit, but kept waking herself up. I'll catch up on that 'me' time over the weekend I suppose!

Speaking of weekends; I can't wait for next weekend. We're making the journey back to Negaunee to introduce Miss V to family and friends. She hasn't met my Dad yet, or my Aunt Sue and my Grandparents. That needs to be resolved =D She'll also be meeting her mutant uncle Justin, who will hopefully be done with all of his work for his exam. Not to mention the numerous friends Cindy and I have invited to stop by!

Before I go, here's a cute picture I got from Cindy yesterday...

So much freaking hair! Love you all!

Vada Gets Jabbed

Today we had Vada's 2 month checkup appointment at the pediatrician's office. This is one of those appointments where the poor baby gets jabbed by a nurse a few times for vaccinations. We're trying to space these out a bit so she doesn't get too traumatized, and also in case she has any sort of reaction to the vaccination it will be easier to pinpoint which one was at fault.

We got in a little early for our appointment (a wizard did it) and got all of her measurements done. Here's the stats:

Weight: 10 lbs 11oz
Height: 22in
Head: 15 1/4 in circumference

She's right in the 50th percentile for head size and weight, and down in the 30th for the height. At least I don't have to worry about her playing basketball!

Then came the big wait. Cindy and I were waiting in the room for about 20 minutes just dreading that doctor coming in. Vada was very tired from being up a early this morning, so she was having a hard time. I took her for some Daddy time before the big mean doctor showed up.

Vada, of course, fell asleep. She was oblivious to the torture she was about to endure. Turns out the doctor doesn't even do the vaccination; the poor nurses get stuck doing the job! We finished our checkup, and went back to waiting. I think this time we waited only 5 minutes, but it felt more like 30.

Finally the fateful moment. Our nurse came back carrying three syringes; two with needles and one for oral delivery. We had the oral vaccine first, which is a Rotavirus vaccine. Vada's a champ with oral medication already so that one was easy. The needles were another story.

If you have kids, you know what I'm going to say here. If you don't, let me tell you something. There is no worse moment than the first time you see your child in pain. I was standing there holding her head trying to make her feel safe when the nurse began the injections. Her face went from calm to angry and scared in a flash - she turned beet red and started bawling. It was TERRIBLE. I hope it's not like this every time :( Thankfully the nurse didn't mess around and got those two shots over with quick. She had a Hepatitis B booster shot as well as a Pneumococcal Conjugate vaccine. This vaccine is to protect against blood infections, pneumonia, and meningitis.

After the nurse was done, we stayed in the room for a bit so Cindy could nurse bb Vada. She was still a little upset, but once she started nursing she chilled right out. I am so thankful that Cindy is able to provide that comfort for Vada...pacifiers and bottles just don't compare. My little girl went from inconsolable to serene in about 5 minutes. Thanks Mama!

Back at home, little Vadacakes took a good 2-hour nap to recoup from the trauma. I hung out with her for once she got up, and Cindy got these cutie pictures of her :)

I think that look on her face makes up for all that fear from earlier in the day :) Love you all, and again big thanks to Cindy for being such an awesome Mama!

Vlog #2!

Here it is, folks. Vada Video #2 (7 weeks old). Not much to update about today, we've just been hanging out at home and napping after the busy day we had yesterday. Hope you're all well!

Big Post Full of Stuff

Hey everyone! So things have been pretty great over here. Today, Chris, Vada, and I went to the Great Lakes Folk Fest (that's a link, check it out!). It was so much fun! Vada was a total hit and we got stopped at least ten times by people telling us that she was adorable. There was a really sweet old man who was at the ukulele player's show (and there was a hula dancer, it was pretty incredible!) who told us that we have a "great looking baby". Next time we go out to something like this, Chris said he wants to film the people and how they react to Vada, we got tons of smiles and overheard a lot of "Aww, what a cute baby" and "Wow, look at that hair!" We got to wander around downtown East Lansing and listen to all kinds of music and see all kinds of amazing vendors. The theme this year for the vendors was recycling, so there were tons of things there that were made out of repurposed items. One thing that was pretty cool was this bud vase:

I also got a chance to really put my new moby wrap to the test. It was GREAT! She was so comfortable! She slept in it the first half of our visit and then I turned her to face outwards and she had a lot of fun looking at everything. We donated some money to the Bucket Brigade (wandering volunteers accepting donations for the GLFF), so she got a sticker saying that she helped out. You can see my moby wrap in this picture, too. She loved it so much! (Check out those chubby cheeks!)

Tomorrow, we're going to stay in and lay low, but Monday should be a pretty eventful day. Vada is going to the pediatricians and getting her first vaccine shots :( I'm not looking forward to that at all! Thankfully, Chris is starting his alternate work schedule next week, so he's going to be off from work on Monday and can go with me so that I don't have to drive us home crying. I know this is going to be much harder on me than it will be on Vada!

I'm multi-tasking right now and working on this week's video blog, so it should be up here by tomorrow night. And with that, I'll leave you with this picture of Vada passed out on her daddy's chest. I love you all and can't wait to see you all soon!

No pictures, just words.

Hey guys! Things are going really well down here! Vada is doing great and is starting to smile at us, which is just so amazing to see. She's really getting a little personality, and that's just awesome!

We did take her to the Dr yesterday, however. She's been battling thrush (which means I've been battling it as well), we kept passing it back and forth. Her and I are now on medication, so hopefully it'll clear up soon. The Dr and the nurse both said that she's getting so chubby, so that made me feel pretty great! She's 10lbs 6oz! She's gained 3lbs 1oz since we brought her home from the hospital! What a little weed!

I picked up some fabric today at JoAnn's to make another moby wrap. I got one from a wonderful woman on Ravelry, but it doesn't breathe very well and it's dark blue, which means that Vada and I sweat like mad in it. I got a really thin cotton blend, and I'm hoping that it works out well. I'll try to take a picture of us using it soon.

I don't think that this weeks video is going to have much footage, we've been staying home mostly, trying to keep cool and dry. It's been super hot here this week and very rainy. I'll try to take video tomorrow at my knitting group, you all can see how much fun we have there!

That's it for now, love you all!

First Video Blog!

Hi everyone! Chris, Vada, and I went back to the MSU Botanical Gardens today. We went last weekend, but it was so big that we couldn't finish it all in one day! We took some clips that will appear in our next weekly video. Speaking of which, I got our first video done! It turned out pretty well! Let us know if there is anything you'd like to see, we'll try to get it in the next video. The video blog is at the end of this post :)

I weighed Vada and at 7 weeks exactly, she was TEN POUNDS! She's really plumped up with being on breastmilk. I'm quite proud! She hates getting weighed, as you can see. I don't blame her, being naked on a hard scale must kind of suck.

Enjoy the video! Hope you're all well!

A new friend!

Vada and I ventured out to a Biggby coffee shop this afternoon to meet with another new mom who also knits. Her name is Emily and her baby is named Elizabeth. Elizabeth is exactly two weeks younger than Vada. It's amazing what a difference two weeks makes! Vada isn't nearly as floppy as she used to be, and she's gotten so much bigger!

I wish I would have thought to take pictures of the babies together, but I was so excited to get out of the house and knit with someone new that it totally left my mind. I had a great time, though! I'll take pictures next time (I even brought the camera, totally forgot about it!).

We picked up the Bumbo chair yesterday. She seemed to like it, it isn't something we can leave her in, though. She's not 100% steady with her head, but this should help. She looks like such a big girl in it, it makes me sad!

Well, that's all I've got for now. Hope you're all well!

New pictures!

Hello!

A couple weeks ago we were fortunate enough to have a visit from the lovely Cara Jo for a baby photoshoot. She's still working on cleaning up the photos and picking the best ones, but we got a few samples today! Check 'em out!

As soon as we get the full set of pictures from CJ we can post them in a web album online for everyone to see. Hope you enjoy these ones!

Vada is spending a lot of time sitting on her own and soaking in all the sights. She's very fond of the "Happy Birthday" balloon my coworkers got for her...she spends most of the morning talking to it while she practices holding her pretty little head up. It's going to be a sad day when that thing finally deflates =( We're already committed to replacing it as soon as we need to!

We'll be picking up a Bumbo Chair for her tomorrow - it's got a nice high back on it so that she doesn't lose her head. This way she can sit up and enjoy the world without poor Cindy having to try to hold her all day. I just held a baby for 9 hours...boy, are my arms tired!

In other news - my boss is hearing lots of compliments about my work; I'm doing a good job apparently! Only catch is that the state requires three years of experience before they can promote me, and I've only got one =( Looks like I'll be sticking around for at least a few years!

Love you all~

Sorry everyone!

From this (1 day old):

To this (6 weeks old):

I know we've been saying that we will have a blog up and post a lot about the baby and how we're doing, but surprise surprise, a newborn is a lot of work.

Vada is 6 weeks old now! It's been the fastest 6 weeks of my life! I can't believe how much she's changed in the past few weeks, she looks like an entirely different baby. She's doing great, though, going to bed at a reasonable time now instead of the 2:30am stuff she's been pulling. She'll get to sleep around 9:30 and wake up a few times, and then she's up for the day at 10am. Works for me!

We went to the MSU Botanical Gardens today, and it was so pretty. We took a few video clips, so look for that in our first ever Vada vlog. A link will be posted here once it's done (editing is hard, I need practice).

Hope everyone is well!

- Cindy