Happy View

Every time I put Amelia on the changing table she looks up and grins.  Tonight I had to take a picture from her view to see what is so neat.  It must be all of the fun colors and textures. :-)

She's really getting some good head control.  I'm going to have to try putting her in the Moby facing out this week.  I've been very anxious for this because I just know she will love being able to check everything out!  We also tried the Bumbo chair tonight and she seemed to do well in it.  We're going to have to bring it camping with us this weekend. 

She's definitely getting bigger.  Look how short her jammies are!  Daddy measured her at 23 1/2 inches tonight.  She still doesn't have much of a tummy or butt though.  You can tell by how baggy her jammies are. 


One final thought for the night.  She loves to go places.  When I put her in the car seat she gets very excited.  After being gone for awhile she loves to come home even more.  Today we visited Matt and Mary Beth in the cities.  On the way home she didn't say anything between Saint Peter and Mankato until we were two blocks away from home.  She began cooing and getting excited.  I can't believe she already recognizes the streets around home. 

Jewelry

For Mother's day my mother gave me a necklace with Amelia's birthstone in it.  It's so beautiful and I'll be able to add birthstones of future children. 

For Amelia's baptism my mother got her a little cross necklace.  It's also very pretty.  We are such lucky girls to receive these pretty necklaces.  Thanks mom!

I love this baby!

As Kirsten always says "I love this baby!"  Or Millie likes to say "You have a nice baby."   I totally agree.

We've been having a better week.  We went to see the lactation nurses on Monday and again today.  Amelia gained 3 ounces in between visits which is right on track.  She's up to 9lbs 3oz!  We have another appointment next week just to make sure everything is still going well. 

After her bath one night I put her in her crib for what was going to be just a minute while I put away things and she was transfixed on her mobile.  So I started spinning it around for her and she ended up watching it for almost twenty minutes!  That made my day!  It's a homemade knit mobile and all the work was worth it to see her enjoy it so much. 

We had another busy weekend as it was Amelia's baptism!  We had a great day and enjoyed visiting with family.  I still have to get the pictures from my father and I'll have a special post for it when I get them.

My Baby

Amelia looks a lot like Lucas.  Her whole face looks like him, she has his long lean body, and I think she has his appetite.  I think the only facial feature of mine that she has is the dimple chin.

I know she is my baby because of her attitude.  She is all mine in that category.  She likes to be in control of everything and she gets frustrated very easily.  Her moods and emotions can also change very quickly.  Fortunately she too is generally happy with life and spends most of her time smiling and laughing.  I can tell she's going to be a big talker.  I think she is actually learning to control when she coos, which she of course loves because it means she is in control even more.  She also studies things very hard and is a serious thinker. 

Birthday Weekend

We had a very busy last weekend.  We had a birthday party for my father and my brother.  It was such a beautiful day!  Amelia and I went over to visit with my mother before the party started and we sat outside on the patio.  My girl loves to be outside.  Here she is sunning herself.

 And pictures from the party.  Kirsten really wanted to blow out those candles.

We don't get to see John and Taylor very often.  Taylor really loved Amelia and didn't want to give her up!

 On Sunday I took a knitting class with my mother at the Tangled Skein in St. Peter.  Amelia stayed home with Lucas.  I have to admit I enjoyed my time away from her but the last half hour of the class I couldn't concentrate anymore and missed her.  The class was on sewing seams together so I was able to finish her sweater.  I knit the 6-12 month size so hopefully it will fit her this fall and winter.

Success!

Just a quick update.
Amelia has gained 1.2 lbs in the last week.  Yay!  I can't believe how much better we all are doing.  We have her 2 month check up on Friday.  Hopefully we'll have another gain. :-)

Yay!

We are both feeling stuffed with fluids, but it's a good thing.  We've had some really good nights with everyone getting so much needed sleep and Amelia is back to her old cheerful self.  My supply is up and she is very sleepy from all of the milk.  Now instead of her crying I sometimes can't get her to wake up.  :-) 

Since she is in such a good mood we tried playing with her gym for the first time yesterday.  She loved it, but started to get mad at me for all of the pictures I was taking. 

Ugg

Here are some fun parts of my Mother's Day

Dressed up to meet my parents and grandma at Olive Garden for dinner. 

Flowers from the hubby :-)

We have spent the past several nights pretty much up all night with Amelia screaming and us not able to console her.  The whole house is tired, including the cats.  Today we went to the doctors because Amelia began coughing yesterday and was pretty congested this morning.  Imagine my surprise when they weighed her and she was the same as she was a month ago.  Turns out nursing really truly hasn't been going that well and I need to work on increasing my milk supply.  So for the next week we are really upping the frequency of nursing, I'm drinking more water than I thought is possible and we need to supplement with formula.  Here's hoping we have a better night tonight and doctors appointment next week. 

My First Mother's Day

Today is my first Mother's Day as a mommy. :-)

It hasn't started so well.....
Amelia was up until 3 last night and proceeded to wake up at 7 and again at 8 which means little sleep for me. :-(

We've also been having issues nursing for the past week and a half. Just when it was beginning to get easier and we were getting into a good routine. Sometimes she screams from the very beginning, other times she nurses for a few minutes then screams. She's decided to prefer one side over the other and sometimes neither one or any position will do the job. This morning I could tell she was very hungry but we just weren't getting anywhere and with me on low sleep we were a very sad sight. After some snuggle time with daddy (what would we do without him?!) and some sleep time for me she finally relaxed and got some food.

So now I'm relaxing with my cup of coffee, trying to organize my Google Reader and planning to knit a little more of her sweater. Hopefully the rest of our day remains this calm.

Knitting

I finally took some pictures of my knitting. 

Here is the cowl. 

Here is the tweed vest.  I took this to the Tangled Skein when I returned an extra skein of yarn and they advised me to change my bind off edge so it stretches better. 

So I still have to fix that but I've been busy knitting a cardigan for Amelia.  I have to get it done by the 16th because Mom and I are taking a class on seaming.  I'd rather have a real project to work on than play with swatches. 

Moby Wrap

Another one of Amelia's favorite things and I have to say it's one of my favorites is the Moby wrap.

We use it just about everyday.  She loves it because it snuggles her close and tight to me.  Most of the time she sleeps so well in it she completely forgets about how long it's been since last eating and I have to wake her up.  I love it because it allows my hands to be free and keeps her happy.  It's also way more convenient than hauling a stroller and car seat around. 

This week we've been trying to figure out how to nurse while using the Moby.  I hope we can get it to work!  The Moby takes all of her weight off of my arms which would be really nice when we are out on the town and don't have comfy chairs and pillows available.    

Amelia & Kirsten

Tummy Time 

Amelia loves her cousin Kirsten and Kirsten loves her just as much.  Kirsten has always had big plans for Amelia since I said I was pregnant.  She had a giant list of all the things they were going to do together and Kirsten was convinced I was having a girl.  I kept asking her what she would do if I had a boy?  She said it didn't matter she would still do all those things with a boy.  In the end Kirsten and Lucas were the only ones who correctly guessed I was having a girl.

Kirsten loves to do tummy time with Amelia.  She'll snuggle and hold Amelia forever!  She's even super thrilled to help change diapers.  Last night at my mother's house I yelled "Kirsten! I'm changing her diaper!"  Instantly she came running yelling "I'm coming! Hold on, I'm coming!"  I have to think only when your almost five years old is diaper changing so exciting and fun.

The other thing Kirsten loves to do is kiss Amelia.  She'll kiss her once, and start to walk away and come back with this sheepish grin on her face and say "just a couple more."  Besides snuggling Amelia all day I think Kirsten could kiss her all day long, which doesn't bother Amelia one bit.  It's two of her favorite things!

Camping

We're going to try camping with Amelia.  While she is immobile will probably be the easiest time to camp.  We are going to Minneopa State Park, which is really just outside of town but that way we won't feel bad if we have to come home early.   We also picked the weekend after Memorial Day so hopefully it will be a little warmer than Memorial weekend usually ends up being.  Now I have to plan the menu....