3 Months Old!

Wow am I behind...

12 Weeks

13 Weeks

14 Weeks

Amelia is 3 months old!

We had a rough couple of weeks but we are back to "normal" now...or at least we have a new normal. Last I posted Amelia was sleeping like a champ, even making it a 9.5 hour stretch one night and 8.5 to 9 hours a few others. Then it happened...call it 3 month sleep regression, or a growth spurt, I don't know but it was AWFUL. Amelia went from 9.5 hours to waking up every 4 hours (not too bad), then every 3 hours (a little tougher)...then every 1.5 hours for two nights. I literally did not sleep for over 48 hours and I was EXHAUSTED. I finally ended up going to my moms for the day after the two awful nights and sleeping while she watched her and waking only to feed her. After the two nights from H**L things started slowly getting better...she went back to every 4 hours, then got up to 5 hour, then 6 and even 7.5 once and now we are steady at between 6 and 7 every night. Hopefully she will make it back to 9.5 but I can handle this. Especially since...(drum roll please)... I went back to work on Monday February 20th. :( As I am writing this I am finishing up my first week back to work and it has been interesting. I will admit it as not as terrible as I made it out to be in my head in anticipation but I won't say I am happy about it either. I am in the most incredibly fortunate situation having my mom keep Amelia while I work. I don't have to worry if she is safe and happy and I know my mom will care for her in the manner I would. But...I would rather be there with her than anywhere else. The thought of missing her first time doing so many things brings tears to my eyes but I know that me working right now is what is best for our family. Hopefully I wont have to work full time for her whole life but if I do we will just make it work!

Now on to more fun things...Amelia is growing and developing like a champ. After our little growth spurt/feeding frenzy she has officially grown out of all of her newborn clothes and some of her 0-3 month clothes. Her little cheeks are huge and her legs and arms have adorable little baby rolls!

Amelia is grasping toys and bringing them to her mouth on a regular basis. She loves her Sophie Giraffe. (which is essentially a dog toy and really confuses Elle...sorry but its true)

Amelia lights up when I pick her up from daycare and again when dad gets home from work. I know that she knows who we are but its nice to be reassured on a daily basis.

She is still drooling like crazy and gnawing on toys, her hands and our fingers. She even chews on the paci more than she sucks on it so I feel confident we are in the beginning stages of the teething process. It could be months before we see a tooth however.

Amelia had her 3 month photo shoot last night with Monica at Parkonnen Photography. She did so well! We even got MULTIPLE smiling shots on her tummy!

Speaking of tummy she is doing a lot better with tummy time. I try to make it a happy time and cheer and encourage her with clapping and smiling so she gets excited about it. She hasn't rolled over yet but she is SO close. She practices in her crib at night (sometimes in her sleep) and on her playmat. She rolls from her back to her side and just hangs out for a bit, then sometimes she will turn her head down in preparation to roll, she just needs a little extra umph to get past her arm and she will be over!

She has almost discovered her feet. She grabs her legs when she is on her back and got one foot one time but I think it might have been on accident. :)

A Family Hike

On Saturday January 7th we took Amelia on her first hike at Paris Mountain State Park!

We did a 3.5 mile loop that went straight up the side of the mountain. 

I wore Amelia in the Ergo and she seemed to enjoy it for most of the hike. She got a little fussy near the end so daddy took her out and carried her. When she is awake she likes to see what is going on and her neck is not quite strong enough to ride on my back.

Overall it was a great success that we hope to repeat many times. I can't wait until Amelia can truly take in all these sites! 

10 and 11 Weeks

10 Weeks

11 Weeks

Amelia is growing and developing before my very eyes! She is smiling and cooing and almost laughing...any day now! I love to sit Amelia in my laugh and listen to her "talk" to me about her day. She has found both hands and gets them to her mouth on a regular basis. Speaking of mouths...Amelia has really started drooling! This is apparently an early sign of teething, some babies start teething as early as one month!  Amelia takes the paci from time to time to help ease her to sleep. Speaking of sleep things are going pretty well! (fingers crossed) We only get up once during the night to eat (most of the time) and the long stretch seems to be growing. She even made it 9.5 hours one night! YAY! Most nights its closer to 7 hours but that is still great! She does so well during her nighttime feedings now and eats and goes right back to sleep. Sometimes with the help of the paci, sometimes not. We have even stopped swaddling her arms entirely. She loves having them out so she can suck on her fingers and move around. 

Naps are still an issue. She is going down for naps really well. She fusses a bit but usually will take the paci and fall right asleep...for 30 minutes. Every time, at 30 minutes on the dot she wakes up! I can usually pop in the paci and soothe her back to sleep...for another 30 minutes. There must be something in her sleep cycle that wakes her at 30 minutes. It doesn't seem to happen at night though (knock on wood!) so who knows! 

I'm still taking Amelia to my moms a few days a week and sometimes she sits in a bouncer seat that has a little blue bird. Amelia LOVES to talk to the little bird! There are also two toys hanging down at arms reach that you pull down to make the blue bird spin. Amelia has started grasping the toys! She doesn't have the strength to pull them down but I swear she knows that what you do and has tried to do it! 

She still isn't the biggest fan of tummy time. She does ok on our chests but cries every time we put her on her tummy on the mat. We have started to sit her in the Bumbo seat for short amounts of time. She does really well!

My best friend Amy and her husband John and 10 month old daughter Ava came to visit this past weekend. It was so nice to see them and to see how much Ava has grown! The last time I saw her she was just about a month older than Amelia and she has changed so much. She is laughing and playing and almost walking! Amy and I realized that Ava and Amelia are the same number of month apart as Amy and I are. Hopefully the girls will grow up to be good friends! 

We took the girls on a hike on our favorite trail. Amelia did pretty well, she was awake for about half and loving taking in all the sites. She took a little nap and then decided she was over the Ergo and daddy carried her for the last bit.  Ava did great! 

The night before Amy and family headed home the adults went out for dinner and drinks that turned into a crazy dance party at Rome...the "nightclub" in town. It was such a blast but we paid for it the next day. The thing about going out when you have a baby at home is that you still have to get up with them the next morning! LOL Amelia was nice to mommy and daddy and napped really well though, I think she knew we needed a break. 

9 Weeks/ 2 Months

How is my baby girl 2 months old already???

Amelia is such a big girl already! (sigh) She is sleeping soundly in her crib every night, usually for 5-7 hours straight. (usually...) Naps are going better...I am trying to break her of taking naps in the swing. I have had some success in the pack and play but she wakes up a lot more and has to be soothed back to sleep or just simply won't go back to sleep after waking up so some of her naps are closer to 30 minutes than 2 hours! Next step...naps in the crib. I am certain that part of the reason she is extra cranky in the evenings is the fact that she isn't sleeping enough during the day so she is overtired. On days when she sleeps well during the day our evenings go much smoother!

Amelia had her 2 month check up on 1/12/12. She weighed in at 11 pounds 1 ounce and measured 23 inches long! I cannot believe how much she has grown. She is in the 53rd percentile for weight, the 84th percentile for height (going to be tall like mommy and daddy!) and the 87th percentile for head circumference.

A Girl's Best Friend

We had another fun outing this week. Our friends The Theisen's had an ugly Christmas sweater party. Amelia enjoyed seeing her friends and meeting new people and she got to wear one of her Christmas outfits again!

Amelia has SERIOUSLY found her hands! Or at least her left hand. This is GREAT news to mommy because I'm hoping this means she will be able to self sooth. 

8 Weeks

(still late...almost caught up!)

I'm 8 weeks old!

This week has been A LOT of firsts! Amelia had her first "smile in response" last week and she has kept it up this week as well! On 1/6/12 Amelia officially "slept through the night" for the first time. Now if you are not a mommy you may not know what that actually means...apparently sleeping 6-7 hours straight means sleeping through the night so although we did not get a full nights sleep and she did wake up once to eat she did sleep for 7 hours straight for the first time! To continue the milestones we moved Amelia to her crib on 1/7/12. She did great! Not 7 hours the first night but at least 5! We seem to have gotten nighttime sleep down. She gives us at least 5 hours every night and has gotten all the way up to 7.5! Our bedtime routine is incredibly lengthy and some nights it takes her quite awhile to fall asleep which can be very frustrating! We are still working on naps. She still HATES the swaddle but I'm convinced she won't sleep as long if we stop using it. Plus I think her hands will be too cold without it if we only use a sleep sack.

 

We took Amelia on a 3.5 mile hike in the Ergo for the first time. (we went for a short walk around the lake the week before in the Ergo but this was a real hike!)

Amelia likes to lay on her back on her playmat and stare at herself in the mirror. She still doesn't love tummy time but I try to make her do it at least once a day to strengthen her neck and encourage her to roll over. Sometimes it seems like she is really close to rolling from tummy to back but we aren't there quite yet.

Amelia also likes to lay in mommy and daddy's bed and stare at the ceiling fan.

She has started to find her hands but can't quite keep them in her mouth just yet. She still doesn't take to the paci very well so we are all looking forward to the day when she can self sooth with her fingers.

7 Weeks

(a little late!)

7 weeks already! Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad! Married 4 years! 

Amelia is smiling more and more and she now responds to our actions with smiles. She likes when daddy taps her nose and says "boop boop boop" and when mommy traces around her mouth and nose.  Her neck is really strong and hardly flailing around like it used to. She still doesn't love tummy time but her playmat helps! Her awake and happy time in increasing and she is sleeping less and less...sometimes too little during the day! We are trying to work on our daytime naps to get them into more of a routine. Nighttime is going soooooo much better. We consistently get a 4-6 hour stretch of sleep and then somewhere between 1-3 hours. Now that we have the long stretch down we need to work on another long stretch after she wakes up the first time. I think she is too sleepy and not eating enough because she often wakes up after an hour  or an hour and a half.  Amelia LOVES bath time. If she is fussy before her bath (which she usually is as evening is her fussy time) she immediately relaxes once the water hits her skin!

We watched Iowa State LOSE to Rutgers at Buffalo Wild Wings. Amelia was not impressed.

This week Amelia experienced her first New Years celebration! We spent the evening with a great group of friends at the Oakley's. It was a blast and Amelia did great. She hung out with the group until her normal bedtime then went down in the pack and play and slept until it was time to go home. I fed her again when we got home and she went right back to sleep!

On New Years Day Amelia and I watched daddy and some of his friends jump into a lake for charity at The Paris Mountain Polar Plunge! Afterwards we walked the path around the lake with Amelia in the Ergo. She slept the whole time!

Ive started taking Amelia to my moms while I go to yoga a few days a week. It's a nice break for some mommy time plus it gets Amelia used to daycare! When I go back to work (boo) my mom will watch Amelia. It really is the best back to work scenario, she's with my mom and gets to be around other kids!

Amelia's Baptism

On Thursday December 29th, 2011 Amelia Kathryn Wagner was baptized at St. Paul's Catholic Church in Spartanburg, SC. 

It was a beautiful ceremony. Aunt Abby became Godmother Abby.

Amelia did so well! We attended the 6 PM Mass and the baptism was done immediately after. She got a little fussy during the mass but after a little loving and a bottle from dad she was great the rest of the night.  She didn't let out a peep during the baptism, not even when the holy water was poured over her head.

After the baptism we enjoyed a delicious dinner at Cribb's Kitchen with family and a few friends.  It was a beautiful night!

Thanks Melanie and Eric for taking pics and videoing!

Amelia truly is a gift from god!