New Sleepers

Thanks to my Aunt Fran's recommendation I went to TJ Maxx to look for 9 and 12 month sleepers. I had looked several places but hadn't found what I wanted at a price I was willing to pay. If you're looking for nice name brands (Carters, Little Me, etc) at good prices, TJ Maxx is the way to go!

4 Months and Growing

Here's a quick listing of Greta's accomplishments this month:

• Supports her weight completely and only hangs on to us for balance.
• As of last night she took a few steps hanging on to Graham's hands for assistance. Previous to this she hadn't had the strength to lift her legs to "walk".
• She's rolled over from back to front a few times but really hates being on her stomach so she doesn't do it often. She does roll from back to side really well and has almost rolled from back to stomach a time or two in search of a toy.
• She smiles at Mom and Dad a lot as well as Uncle Jack & Aunt Julie. She'll smile at strangers sometimes, particularly if she's being held by Mom or Dad.
• She's started showing some fear of strangers. She definitely is not comfortable being held for very long by someone she doesn't know or doesn't know well. Other than Graham and I she's most comfortable with J&J as she sees them at least once a week.
• Her preferred lovey is Miss Bunny. She's started sleeping with Miss Bunny and wraps her arms around her when sleeping.
• When in a happy mood she loves to talk to us.
• She takes a bottle quite well now and generally has one about once a week.
• She's experimenting with a sippy cup. So far she's not quite figured out how to consistently get water out of it but she loves to hold it and chew on the handles. When she does get water out she makes the strangest face like "what is that stuff?"
• She really notices the dogs now and if they sit still long enough she will "pet" them.
• She still loves to nurse and shows great eagerness when I sit down to feed her. Sometimes in her eagerness to eat she'll latch herself on before I am ready.
• She notices us eating and drinking and will reach out to touch our food or drink but doesn't really show any desire to eat or drink, just wants to explore.
  
• She's outgrowing some sleepers in the footie area. Will my daughter have big feet or maybe Children's place just has small footies? Here's hoping it's the latter.
  

To all those who say they only see Graham in Greta

My baby is growing up

Today, well, it's been a strange day. We started off at the pediatrician and learned that Greta now weighs just under 14 pounds and is 25 inches long. The doctor was pleased with her growth and I mentioned her fussiness in the evenings after being laid down. He advised trying to teach her to self soothe - not "cry it out" but comforting her in the crib and not picking her up each time she wailed IF we knew she wasn't hungry, dirty, or in pain. I knew this was a skill she would have to learn but had sorta been putting it off as I dreaded seeing her cry. Well, at nap time today I decided to give it a whirl. I laid her in her crib, tired but awake, put on a relaxing guitar lullaby CD, turned on the sound machine, gave her Miss Bunny, covered her up, and even tried the pacifier. After some trial and error I got her in a comfortable position (flipped on her side), patted her back, and "shhhhed" while her eyes became droopier and droopier. I was actually surprised how easy it was to get her to go down without nursing. She did wake up 30 minutes later but it was close to her feeding time so I wasn't surprised.

It's now 8:30 and she's been down for about 30 minutes. She was quite tired and about fell asleep in her bumbo. Graham carried her to her room awake, laid her down, gave her Miss Bunny and her new silk pillow, turned on the sound machine, covered her up, and she was OUT. This afternoon wasn't a fluke! Even funnier Graham comes out of the room with a shocked expression on his face. He just couldn't believe how easy it was. Here's hoping it continues to be so.

Who are you?

I don't know if you've ever noticed my visitors map on the lower right hand side but it is quite interesting. It seems I have visitors from England, Mexico or very southern Texas, and quite a few other places in the US. If you are lurking around and don't comment, would you take a moment to do so?

Thanks!

The good and the bad

The Bad
Greta does NOT like being in the nursery. I have tried several times to leave her at the nursery at Sportsclub and I have gotten called back to nursery before 30 minutes have elapsed. I was very disheartened on Monday when this happened, especially when the nursery workers suggested I only leave her for 15 minutes until she gets used to it. In my mind I know their suggestion makes sense but at the same time it's so frustrating to not even be able to leave her for a short while so I can get some exercise!

The Good
Greta has become so much fun. She is happy almost all of the time (except as noted above). She's started really playing with things and trying to manipulate her environment - sometimes in dangerous ways! One day she was sitting on the counter top in her Bumbo helping make breakfast and she started trying to pull the knives out of the knife block! Yesterday I sat her on the floor of the bathroom so I could get ready and I had a package of toilet paper sitting there to be put up and she reached out as far as she could to get it and pulled it over to her so she could chew on it. It really is a lot of fun to watch her experience new things.

She also is doing so much better in the car. Previously car trips were entered into with great trepidation since they inevitably ended in tears for Greta and frustration for me. She still cries sometimes when you put her in her car seat but once the car starts moving she stops and either falls asleep or talks.

One of her new talents is blowing bubbles. She really seems to amuse herself (and us) doing this.


The Bad
We've had some difficulties of late getting her to stay asleep once we put her in her crib for the night. The first night this happened she would wake up within 5 minutes of laying down but as soon as we picked her up she would be right back to sleep. We finally figured out she was cold (it was the coldest night we'd had thus far and her crib is by a window). Once we got her comfortable, she slept. Since then we've had the same problem but it hasn't been because of temperature. I'm really not sure what is going on but it is quite frustrating. Maybe a growth spurt? She also now wakes up between 5 and 6 in the morning. On work days that isn't too bad since Graham gets up around 6 and then lets me sleep until 6:45ish when breakfast is ready. On weekends, it is killer. Graham and I laughed one day that we now consider 7 sleeping in. She also doesn't sleep through the night. She's been sleeping in her crib for a while now and at the beginning I tried going in there to feed her when she would wake up but I ended up more tired that way so I end up bringing her to our room to sleep the rest of the night. I know that before too long she will be sleeping through the night but at this point, that seems very far off.

The Good
My workout regime is paying off! My schedule has been to go to step class on Tuesday and water aerobics on Thurs & Sat. In between I try to get to the gym 2 other days during the week to do some other type of cardio (like the elliptical) and weights. I sometimes do weights after the classes as well to ensure I get 3 days of weights in per week. It's been a wee bit difficult for both Graham and I to get workouts in as we try to juggle who has Greta. Since she doesn't do well in the nursery we've decided for the time being not to push it at Sportsclub and just focus on her getting comfortable at the nursery at church. They are much more patient with her there and willing to work with us to get her adjusted. Oh, back to my workouts paying off. I forgot to weigh myself before we got started but this week alone (between Sunday and Wednesday), I've dropped 2 pounds. I also feel much more optimistic about myself. To me that's one of the best parts of working out - even if you haven't lost anything you still feel good because you are doing something good for yourself. Graham knew his starting weight and he's dropped 10 pounds. His results are also starting to be more visible. Each day I feel like I notice somewhere new he looks slimmer.

The Bad
Because I've been doing water aerobics I've been wearing swimsuits several times a week. I have one tank suit and two tankinis. The tank suit fits fine but one day I wanted to wear something different so I tried on a tankini. I was most upset to find out that neither fitted in the bust. They were my favorite swim suits (you can sorta see a picture of one of them here). Thankfully costco had speedo tank suits for a very nice price (19.99) so I was able to get another suit to wear to swim class. I'm hoping that by the time we go to the beach I'll be able to fit back into my other suits but if not I'll just buy a larger top.


The Good
Sportsclub offers "Mommy & Me" swimming classes for 3 months and up. I plan to enroll Greta and I during March to prepare her for the pool this summer. She so loves having a bath so I think she'll really like the "big bathtub".

A day, One word

Friday - Rough.
Greta didn't nap well all day and didn't sleep well that night. She was up at 3:30 which she rarely/never does and needless to say, Graham nor I slept well. In fact, we took her morning nap with her so we didn't actually get ready for the day until 12.
Saturday - Money.
We went to Costco and stocked up on food and she stayed in her stroller for a LONG time. I was so pleased with the amount of food we bought vs. what we paid. I love costco. That evening was better but still not great. I think she got cold so she woke up a lot.
Sunday - Nursery.
Today Greta went to the nursery for the first time. I was paged about 10 minutes into the service and found a screaming baby. They had put her in a swing and she was so not having that and although they had taken her out, she wouldn't calm down. I nursed her and she fell asleep and then I tried to put her in a crib but as I pulled down the bars she instantly woke up. I handed her back over to the nursery workers and left since she was peaceful. Between church & SS I went back to check on her and found them walking the hall with her as she had gotten fussy again. She heard my voice and started crying so I quickly left. When we went to pick her up she cried as they handed her over to me but quickly settled down. Thankfully she did get a short nap during that time. I'm hoping future nursery sessions go better. This afternoon was so nice we took our jogging stroller for a spin. I really enjoyed it. It handles so nicely and she really enjoyed being able to see out. She did really well, especially for not having her usual naps at the usual time today. We'll see how tonight goes.

Just for fun

Answer these questions with only one word:

1. Where is your cell phone? Counter
2. Your hair? Straight
3. Your mother? Caring
4. Your father? Handy
5. Your favorite thing? Reading
6. Your favorite drink? DDPCF (Cheating yes, Diet Dr Pepper Caffeine Free)
7. Your dream car? Mercedez
8. The room you're in? Living
9. Your fear? Heights
10. Where were you last night? Sleeping
11. One of your wish list items? Carpet
12. Where you grew up? Winder
13. The last thing you did? Ate
14. Your pet or pets? Dogs
15. Your Life? Baby
16. Your Mood? Tired
17. Your car? Jeep
18. Your work? Mommy
19. Your favorite color? Red
20. Your House? Cold

New Stroller

As Greta is getting bigger and gaining better head control I've been wanting to buy an umbrella stroller to use for shopping rather than the stroller that goes with her car seat. There are several reasons the greatest of which is that she hates her carseat and gets so incredibly hot in it. She also really enjoys being able to look around and the infant car seats don't really allow her to do that. Graham found a coupon for Babies R Us and I had a gift card so today I went to check out their stroller selection. I went intending to buy one of the cheaper strollers but after trying them out and seeing them in person I found they were equal to their price (cheaply constructed). There also weren't that many lower models to choose from. I looked at the more moderately priced strollers and found one that rolled smoothly, felt much more sturdily constructed, and best of all, the seat is made of mesh vs being padded so it is a lot cooler. It was even on closeout. Graham took Greta for a test roll around the house and I think she liked it. We probably won't use it that much until she gets a little bit bigger and also we'll want warmer weather than it has been this week but I very much look forward to using it.

New Years Resolution

This really isn't a New Years Resolution. It's more of a post-baby resolution. Per the scale I am 10 pounds away from pre-pregnancy weight. Yea for that but boo because my body is just not the same as it used to be. Particularly in the tummy region. We had been discussing joining a fitness club for a while especially because they are opening one up about 4 minutes away from our house. I had been a member of Curves for 3 years and did really well there but I grew tired of just doing a circuit program. The club we wanted to join isn't opening until April 1 but the other clubs were running an end of the year special with no joining fee and it's month to month vs a contract. We signed up on the very last day of 07. Talk about cutting it close! I'm very excited to start working out. They have tons of great equipment although what I'm really looking forward to are the classes. They also have a pool and childcare. I can leave Greta with them for an hour a day until she is 6 months old and then for 2 hours. I am really looking forward to some alone time while also getting my body back into shape. My goal is to lose the pregnancy weight and then some as I wasn't really at my goal weight when I got pregnant. I'm hoping to get all that accomplished before May (which is very doable) since we go on vacation then. I'm saving up all my Christmas gift cards to outfit myself with some nice vacation clothes. I've also heard it's important to set a reward for losing weight so I plan to purchase gift cards to the local spa with a dollar amount for each pound I lose. That way when I'm done I can have a nice spa day.

Christmas

Our Christmas holiday was VERY busy. I'd say it officially kicked off on the 20th with our work Christmas party. It was held at the local country club and the food was awesome. There is traditionally a spoof video and this year was the best yet. They had several employees spoof "The Office" episode of the dundees. It was hilarious and complete with the same opening except with scenes from around our office and Greenville. Another great thing about the Christmas party this year was paid babysitting at the CC. Greta was just down the hall from us so we got a nice break from watching her but she was close enough by to check on. She did really well - I didn't have to go in there once. I was surprised how well she did with strangers and even fell asleep without Mommy.

Next on our agenda was Christmas Eve festivities with Graham's moms family. We ate at his Great Aunts house (I took Hot Fruit & Lima Beans). The tradition is to exchange names and purchase a $25 present and then bring a gag gift. We took cash, a beard trimmer, and a tomagatchi 4.5 (all requested) as our presents and received earrings (me), a circuit city gift card (Graham), and a Learning Puppy (Greta). We didn't stay for the gag gift exchange as it was Greta's bedtime but our present (a Spice Girls CD I got free with purchase at VS) was fought over quite a bit.

Christmas Morning Graham's immediate family ate breakfast at our house and then opened presents. We had tons of food and tons of gifts. Our big present was the stroller I posted about here. I was also pleased to get 2 Ann Taylor Loft giftcards. Christmas dinner was next door at Graham's sisters house and we ate like kings. Graham and I fixed a pot roast in our new crockpot as our old one had just died.

Graham and I spent the next few days painting our living room. Trying to paint with a little baby in the house is not easy. It did not go near as quickly as previous paint jobs mainly because the majority of the time only one of us was working.

The weekend was spent in Hoschton with Momma and Daddy and celebrating Christmas with them. We had a wonderful relaxing weekend. It was very low key which was nice after all the hoopla earlier in the week. We ate friday evening at our FAVORITE mexican restaurant. Greta was so well behaved. She sat in her carseat very happily. Saturday evening we opened gifts and then had a lovely dinner of heavy hors d'oeuvres which were very tasty. Greta received a lot of books from her Mimi and Grandaddy which we have been enjoying reading. I also received another Ann Taylor Loft giftcard and a giftcard to our local spa.

We returned home Sunday evening to a messy house (the painting still wasn't done). We finished up painting on Monday and started to put stuff back together. We're still working on that as we wanted to change the layout of the room but it has proven rather difficult given the type of couch we have and the shape of the room. I'm trying out the new arrangement for a while to see how I like it.

3 Months Old Already!

In some ways the past 3 months have flown by and in other ways it seems like Greta has been here forever. She has changed so much and life with a baby has gotten easier. Here are a few interesting tidbits about life over the past 3 months:

• Greta is now sleeping 5-6 hours at a stretch at night. After waking up for a feeding she'll generally go back down for 4 more hours.
• She goes about 2 hours between naps now. Sometimes a little more, sometimes a little less
• Her preferred method to go to sleep is nursing but will also accept rocking and walking. She generally won't fall asleep on her own.
• She rides better in the car now but still doesn't like it, especially at first. Longer rides are actually easier. Once we get on the interstate she almost always falls asleep and stays asleep for the whole trip. Stop and go traffic - not her friend.
• She rolled over for the first time yesterday (front to back). She really hates to be on her tummy so I hadn't been doing too much tummy time with her.
• She LOVES to stand up and has amazing leg strength for a 3 month old.
  
• She loves to put anything and everything in her mouth and guides items there quite well. Favorites are her hands, our fingers, plush rattles, and fabric. We give her Miss Bunny for car rides and she usually ends up in her mouth and helps her off to sleep.
• Greta received a play mat for Christmas and loves it. She's quite happy for a good length of time playing with the animals or just staring at them. It's given me some needed time to get other things done.
• She's much less fussy in the evenings. In fact, crying overall has decreased a lot. However, disruptions to her schedule usually result in crying, especially if it means a missed or late nap. This girl just isn't happy without her needed sleep.
• Greta does NOT sleep well in another bed. We visited with my parents last weekend and Greta slept in a pack and play and reverted to much shorter sleeping stretches. The night we got home she went back to the length she had been sleeping. I guess it's understandable since I sleep better in my own bed too.
• We think she weighs between 13 and 14 pounds. Graham weighed himself then with her and that's the difference. We'll get her exact measurements later this month when we go to the doctor for her 4 month visit.
• Greta talks quite a bit and loves to be talked to. She is especially chatty when being changed.