Looks like our girl is the lucky charm the Yanks needed to get over the hump finally
We'll let Frank take it from here:
Kate's 9th week
There are few blog posts lately because I can't dictate them while nursing Kate. If I could write them without needing any of my hands, I'd be chronicling a lot more because this is such as special time that is going quickly. It's amazing to see how she changes from week to week. Some highlights since our last post:
- Kate took her shots with some screaming, but overall, it was worse on Mom and Dad than on her. She was given some tylenol by the nurse before the shots, and she slept most of the day last Friday as she adjusted to to the three shots.
- At 8 weeks, she weighed 10 lbs. 13 oz and is 24 inches long. This is two inches longer than she was at birth. Right now, I'd put her in the long and lean category.
- Kate's version of "night" is very interesting right now. We are thrilled she is packing away anywhere between 7 and 9 hours of sleep a night. Believe me, I'm not taking it for granted. However, I do wish there was some way to shift her self-determined schedule a bit. She can't seem to stay up past 8:30 or so, and her wake up time is about 4:45 to 5 a.m. On the plus side, I had the sheets changed, Kate bathed and fed and had pumped milk all by 7:15 a.m. today.
- Chris and I are going to a group for new parents on Thursday nights. It's very rough to get there because Kate is generally fussy starting around 4 p.m. and it's very tough for Chris to get home from work on time, but once we've made it to the host's house, it's been a good thing to do. Very neat to meet other new parents going through the same things. The babies are very cute too ---and it's amazing how different they all are. There is a boy in the group who was also born on Father's Day. He's already 13 pounds. Kate has no interest in the pacifier and he loves his. And, his head control is amazing...she's still wobbly.
- Mornings are fun. Kate wakes up with smiles and has a great time on her playmat. Yesterday morning, Chris was excited to witness Kate really grab and hold on to something for the first time..a monkey that hangs from the arch above the playmat.
- I've noticed that when Kate is getting sleepy and sitting in her infant seat, that she will start chomping on her burp cloth and also holds it like she's giving it a hug. This may be a girl who likes having a "blankie" when she's old enough to have one. It looks like she's snuggling in for a nap.
- I was watching the Ted Kennedy eulogies tonight, and Kate perked up when a choir came on. I have no idea what song they were singing but she seemed to like it much better than any of the "toddler" music we have played.
- Dill pretty much ignores me and Kate all day, but he's suddenly interested in her once Chris comes home. It's time to see if he can lick her feet to make his presence known competing for his master's attention.
Some new video:
8-week milestones
I had wanted to document that she weighed 9 pounds 15 ounces at her one-month check up and was 23 and 1/4 inches long. I think she's even longer now as we've been putting lots of the three-month Carter's outfits in a bag for TBD donation or storage because Kate can't stretch her legs anymore. Her next doctor's appointment is Friday...we'll have updated stats but also probably a long day because she'll be getting her first shots. Anybody else want to take her? I expect fussiness and probably her first fever Friday. Yuck.
- While Kate isn't on schedule per se, I am starting to see routines develop. In general, it goes like this - wake up, feed me (could be 30 minutes up to an hour), willingness to play (25 minutes max), a switch goes off and there's a meltdown because in one nanosecond she's discovered she's tired again, 20 minutes to get her to sleep and then nap time of 45 minutes to an hour before it's time to wake up again. It is nice that she wakes up smiling though. Of course, by 5 p.m. each day, this routine is a little off. There's more crankiness and what we call "the buffet" - let's just nurse off mom on and off till 9 p.m. Kate falls asleep there, but as soon as you move her, she wakes up and cries. But, there's huge payoff for less sleeping during the day...she's started to sleep 7 hours a few nights this week. And yes, if I'm smart, I'm running to bed at 9 p.m. as soon as she's out so that I catch as much of that as possible.
- Play: Enjoying it more and more. Kate can hold on to the monkey on her playmat and she's tracking objects if you move them in front of her. More coos and laughter. She also likes the ceiling fan in the past few days.
- Bath: Objecting much more to having her hair washed but she likes to be in the water once that's over.
- Hold me: Ok, by hold me, I mean walk me and hold me. Don't sit in that chair. You can try, but I won't like it!
- Dill: Kate still doesn't really notice him, but he notices her whereabouts. When Grandpa George and Alice were here, he followed them everywhere they went with Kate. And when Stacey breastfed in the other room, Dill followed too. He chose his girls over company.
- Stacey and Chris: Doing really well, but boy are we tired during the "bewitching hours." We had a "date night" on Friday at the Metropolitan Grill, and Stacey LOVED her first beer. The steak was good, too.
- Kate's first baseball game: Very fun but a truly different experience. I can't say I saw much of the game at all...walked the stadium and enjoyed the atmosphere. Next time we'll just get bleacher seats because I sat in my seat for all of two batters. And Dad fed Kate at the game. Quite a sight to see him with a diaper bag. (Kate looked cute in her Yankee gear.)
- Daycare relief: Kate has a spot for September. Phew. More on that as it gets closer. Until then, we won't think too much about it. It's hour by hour in this house.
Kate is 8 (Weeks) ... Almost
Somehow we're on the cusp of the two-month mark, which is officially on Sunday. We'll be celebrating by taking Kate to her first baseball game, Yanks v. Mariners. Should be a good one and a bright, sunny day at the ballpark.
We've had a busy few weeks and are looking at a great weekend ahead. Last week we traveled to Cannon Beach in Oregon for 3 nights and then spent a night in Portland on the way back. The weather was iffy, but after all the ridiculous heat this summer no one complained. We were able to walk Kate on the beach a few times (she slept in the ergo) and we enjoyed just getting out of town. Portland was a highlight for me since I had not been there in the 4 years we've lived in Seattle. It was nice, but I agree that it's very similar to Seattle. Still, we ate like kings at the Bite of Oregon festival and still found room for some Voodoo Donuts after stopping at the jaw-droppingly awesome Powell's Books in the Pearl District.
The Grandparents Brucia arrived here last night and are helping Stacey with Kate today while I work. Tonight, we're getting a nice adult dinner at a fancy steak place while they babysit. Sometime today, Uncle Bob is also coming up from LA. He'll come with my Dad and me to tomorrow night's Yankees--Mariners game and then the Brucias head back to NJ Sunday.
As always, more pictures than you wanted of Kate are available here.
Kate at Five Weeks
Today Kate is already five weeks old. That's pretty amazing. She's hitting her fifth week right at the start of a horrible sounding heat wave kicks in. Today will be 87, followed by 90 on Monday, 93 on Tuesday, 95 Wednesday, 95 Thursday, and 88 Friday. Ouch.
We're actually headed to a hotel Tuesday-Thursday to keep Kate out of the excessive heat (no A/C in our building). So we just need to survive Monday night and Thursday night and we should make it to the weekend, when temperatures are supposed to dip back into the manageable low-80s, relatively unscathed.
Yesterday we received a nice Pack and Play as a gift. It comes just in the nick of time for not only our hotel stay this week but our planned trip to Cannon Beach, Oregon in a few weeks. We're excited to get out of town for a few days and see how Kate does on the road.
