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It’s been quite awhile since I posted, but as you can imagine, Lauren keeps me pretty busy!! We’re into a really good routine around here. She gets up around 8-9, eats, then naps from 10-12 or so. Each day is a bit different, some days she sleeps a majority of the day, some days she’s awake a lot more. If we’re out running errands, she’s definitely asleep, she loves her carseat and the car! She usually is asleep for the night between 9-10 and sleeps until about 3:30am, eats, and is back asleep until morning! We are way too lucky!

Lauren is finally big enough (after weighing us together on the scale, I think she’s just about 9 pounds) to fit in the Baby Bjorn, so her, Brody and I have been taking walks this week. It feels great to do some exercise again and the fresh air does us all good! I’ve also become quite popular with the neighborhood girls who can’t get enough of seeing her. I think we have some babysitters lined up already!

Other than that, I’m trying to work on thank yous for all the wonderful gifts Lauren received (so be expecting them in the mail soon!). We’re designing her birth announcements this week and hope to get them in the mail this weekend, so also be looking for those!

We got professional pictures done a few weeks ago (she was 2 weeks old) at The Picture People and they are really cute! We’ll get them posted here soon (along with all the other pictures we’ve taken in the last few weeks!). We’re going to get more done within the next month for Christmas cards. It’s amazing how fast she’s growing, we’re enjoying every minute of it!!!

Lauren had her 2nd pediatrician appt (2 week) last week and it went great! She gained 7oz in 1 week and is now above her birth weight at 8lb 3oz (50th percentile). She also grew and is now 20 inches (40th percentile). It’s amazing how much she’s grown in 2.5 weeks!!

Lauren started taking a bottle last week…Billy gives her one bottle of expressed breast milk each day to make sure she’ll take a bottle when we need to give her one. She also loves her pacifier, she’ll pretty much suck on anything! We’re taking her to have 2 week pictures done today…we’ll post them soon, if we can!

Lauren had her first pediatrician appt today! The dr. said we’re doing a great job, which was good to hear!! Her birth weight was 7lb 13oz, we left the hospital at 7lb 6oz, and today she was back up to 7lb 12oz!! The dr. was very pleased, Lauren is such a good eater! Everything else checked out great and we go back again next week for another weight check!

Baby’s 1st Month

During the first month of life, your baby will focus on learning how to make sense of her new environment using her eyes, her ears, her sense of smell and touch. Through the love, comfort and attention that you’ll provide, she’ll bond even more closely with you. If you notice a lot of crying, realize that it’s an integral part of your baby’s communication with you since she sees that you respond to her cries by meeting her needs. With your help, she’s learning new things and growing every day. At each checkup, your doctor will measure your child’s height, weight and head circumference, plotting her development in percentiles. What is most important is not exactly how much your baby weighs, but that she continues to grow in a steady way. Length for one-month-old babies usually ranges from 18 inches (10th percentile) to 20.5 inches (90th percentile); weight usually ranges from seven pounds (10th percentile) to 10.5 pounds (90th percentile).

This month, Baby may be able to:

• Lift her head slightly as her neck muscles strengthen.

• Focus her eyes on your face as she begins to learn how to focus both eyes together.

• Visually follow an object that moves about six inches above her face (high contrast colors such as black and white are what she can see best at this time.)

• Blink at a bright light.

• Recognize familiar sounds and voices and respond by turning her head toward them.

• Grip your finger when you stroke her palm—part of her developing grasping reflex.

• Turn toward your finger when you rub a corner of her mouth. This rooting instinct is what helps her to latch onto your nipple for feeding.

• Recognize you by your scent. She can smell your milk if you are breastfeeding.

What you can do

During this month, you can help your baby develop her awareness of her environment by stimulating her senses. To stimulate her hearing, play soothing music, hang wind chimes outside her window, provide soft toys that make interesting sounds. When you speak to your baby, use a lilting, higher-pitched voice — this is the sound to which she’ll best respond. Stimulate her visual development by hanging bright mobiles or soft sculptures in black-and-white patterns near the crib (these are the two colors babies this age seem to like best). To stimulate her sensation of touch, provide soft toys and blankets for Baby to caress.

I can’t believe that Lauren’s first week is almost over!! We’ve had a blast with her, she’s just the best baby! We’re actually getting MORE sleep than we were before we had her! She’s eating 8-10 times during the day and then sleeping in two, four to five hour stretches!! During the day she eats, sleeps, and observes the world…we rarely hear her cry! I’m not sure what we’ve done to deserve such a good baby, but we’re enjoying it!

We came home from the hospital last Thursday and the first night was great. Mom and Dad came back into town Friday night and we took her for her first outing, to dinner and she slept through the entire thing!! Then Saturday Mom and I took her shopping (she just had to have some more pink clothes!) and then the five of us (Billy, Lauren, Mom, Dad, and I) went over to Jerron and Megan’s to watch the KSU game. On Sunday, Mom made the curtains for her room (which are adorable!) and we all just hung out staring at her some more! Then last night Billy and I took her to Target to get me out of the house and then today we ran a few other errands and took her and Brody on a walk (and if you’re wondering, Brody loves her and gives her tons of kisses and loves laying in her nursery while we feed). She loves the car and sleeps through all the shopping we do!

Lauren has her first pediatrician appt on Wednesday and I’m anxious to see how much she weighs! Her birth weight was 7lb 13oz and she left the hospital at 7lb 6oz. Breastfeeding is going perfectly, so I’m hoping she’s back up to her birth weight!!

Billy just can’t bear to go back to work and leave his little girl, so he’s taking off most of the week and then will work from home Thursday and Friday. We’re headed to my parents on Friday night so Lauren can meet more of her family this weekend!

Here’s a picture of her first bath at home, make sure to check out the gallery as Billy is posting pictures of her everyday!