Month 3 Beginnings

Blakelyn's personality is beginning to show.  According to the books, the first three months of a baby's life are considered "the fourth trimester" where you can only expect a child to eat, sleep, poop, fuss.  I have heard that around the fourth month is when it begins to get fun. So her 4 month blog post should be much more fun! 

Stats (unofficial):

weight: 12 lbs

height: 25 inches

sleep: 9pm-7am (roughly)

This month I began going to the YMCA since Blakelyn had to be 8 weeks old before we could go.  Going to the Y has become part of our daily schedule and we both enjoy a schedule.  As I mentioned Blakelyn is beginning to show her personality: she will coo back and forth with us, she will gaze at her hand (when it comes into her field of vision), and is beginning to realize that she can suck on more than just a pacifier.  But again, it is all just a beginning to.

On to pictures:

Her facial expressions are beginning to show from this:

To this in a split second:

Perhaps we have a tea drinker:

For her 3rd month photo shoot we snapped a countless amount of pictures only because her facial expressions changed so rapidly.  I'll spare you the hundred or so we took...

The whales on the curtains in her room are quite fascinating to look at:

(do notice that she is not buckled in the bouncer...)

Gummy smile:

"What I'm 3 months old!":

The lonely chair:

"You can put the ball near me, but I will only bat it away... hey do you know there are whales on the curtains":

"Not to sure about this pink bear invading my space":

"Yep, nope, definitely not enough space for the two of us":

The "big thing" we did this month was to go to Nashville to meet a new family member, 

Elizabeth Claire Homlar

Blakelyn and Claire:

Funny how much bigger Blakelyn is compared to a real newborn.  

Amazing what a 10 week difference makes!

A better look at Claire's face:

All the cousins:

Claire, Caroline, Blakelyn

Even Lily got in on the picture taking:

Hand Sucker

Now that Blakelyn is about to turn 3 months... I suppose I should update what she did during her second month...  

Since she is growing so fast I had forgotten to get a photo shoot of her in newborn clothing (that she maybe wore for 2 weeks).  So at 1.5 months I decided to cram her back into newborn clothing and take some pictures. 

Newborn clothing photo shoot (revisited):

chillin' on the pink bear:

this is the outfit I bought when I found out I was pregnant with a little girl!

 gummy laugh:

 This is as stretched out as her legs could get:

notice that she is beginning to bald

Sophia looks delicious enough to eat:

My favorite tie dyed onesie.

 This picture kind of creeps me out.  Between the funky balding, the low pulled neckline, and wanting to eat Sophia... This shows just how small the onesie had gotten.

I now know that I will need to have a photo shoot every time I put Blakelyn into a cute outfit.

Therefore...

Kind of leery about what mom is going to do:

Yep, tummy time for a photo shoot.  Just had to show off the cute ruffles.

Every girl loves pearls! (and cloth diapers!)

Cute sneeze:

And finally her official 2 month photo shoot:

We have a hand sucker, not thumb, her whole hand:

Big yawn on her bear:

Sporting her vaccine war wounds, three gender neutral yellow circus Band-Aids.

Perhaps I can bring our cute hello kitty girly Band-Aids next time.

We weren't in Hunstville for Blakelyn's first month photo shoot and I wanted to get the "watch me grow" series that everyone else does.  So we'll have to "Watch Her Grow" from two months on.

In the glider by her lonesome:

So I added Sophia, but Sophia was too small:

So I added the homemade ball sewn by Grandma JJ, but Blakelyn was bored:

I added the clown made by Great Grandma Grammy, and Blakelyn chatted it up:

But Blakelyn was bigger than all the rest, so I added the big pink bear, and Blakelyn was back to sucking her hand. 

Close Up:

I originally intended Blakelyn to be sitting next to the big pink bear, but the bear is bigger than I expected.

Christmas

I can't believe I didn't get around to posting about Christmas... well I guess there is a reason I forgot... I'd like to forget it. 

We went to Atlanta for Christmas to celebrate with my family.  Blakelyn was 6 weeks old at the time and it was our first long trip with her.  We had traveled to Birmingham (2 hours) when she was 4 weeks old.  That was the trip that we realized what we needed and what we could do without.  A kind of "test run" for traveling with her. We figured traveling to Atlanta would not be as stressful since we "had figured out how to do so."  HA!  The traveling aspect wasn't too bad, we realized Blakelyn travels best in the morning (she is sleeping or at least chill in the mornings).  However, as soon as we stepped into my parents house... Blakelyn began wailing FOR THE ENTIRE VISIT THERE!!

Looking back we assumed she was going through a growth spurt, but at the time we were about to go crazy.  She nursed just about every hour, fussed when anyone held her (including us), barely napped, and woke up a lot during the night.  The only time she was pleasant was when she was asleep or a few rare moments in the morning.  

We didn't get too many pictures since we were preoccupied... but what we got were these:

 Asleep while traveling:

A little worried about a diaper change:

I think I might be ok here:

Our little quasi happy content elf:

(yes, I'll say what your thinking)

Picture with mom:

and one with dad:

While our gremlin slept, I played with my new iPad:

Devil horns! or some kind of animal!

I've been decapitated!

I think this one is suppose to pick up on heat sensing... does this mean my hands have no circulation...

 And to sum up our Christmas (notice how angry Blakelyn is in this picture)

We had to get one family picture, even if we were tired and gritting "just take the freaking picture."

2 Months

Blakelyn had her 2 month appointment yesterday.  She did great (and so did I).  I dreaded having to take her since she would be getting her first round of vaccines (aside from the HepB she got in the hospital) and I didn't know how she would react.  She actually got really upset at having to be half naked (not to mention tired and hungry) so her wailing began well before any needles showed up.  As soon as she was dressed, fed, and got in the car (fell asleep) she was good.  I don't think the shots even phased her.

Stats as of 2 months:

Head circumference: 15 inches (50th percentile)

Weight: 10 lbs (40th percentile)

Height: 23 3/4 inches (95th percentile)

We've got a long skinny girl!!  

Pictures to come later...

Natural Personality

*So apparently I can write a post from an iPad, but I can't upload pictures or space out paragraphs... boo!*  Round 2...

Our little girl is beginning to show her personality. We are adapting to her various cries and characteristics. It's fun to get to know someone's true and raw emotions! 

So far Blakelyn has five types of cries: distress (change me/ feed me), pitiful (what do you mean I can't keep nursing after 30 minutes even though I fell asleep and unlatched), tired (no I'm not tired, yes I am, no I'm not...), just plain fussiness (I don't like the evenings/ I'm bored/ I need a change of scenery/ I'm only going to be content if you walk me around while I'm strapped into the carseat, etc.) and what we think are growing pains (the kind that are the worst). 

I never get to see her cry, just hear her, doesn't she look so cute!

Blakelyn is happier in the mornings and afternoons than she is in the evenings and nights. I have learned to enjoy her in the mornings and run errands later in the day, since she calms down when we are out and about. If I don't have errands to run, we go for a walk as our outing. Although getting out and about is great for Blakelyn (and my sanity),, she does not like getting into her car seat (especially the first few minutes). She will fuss and wail for a good 10 minutes before she finally decides that she does indeed enjoy it (if only she could remember for the next time). Unfortunately Blakelyn doesn't like the evenings and begins to fuss around the time to start cooking dinner... Guess we will be doing crockpot dinners for a while. 

Cooing and smiling when we interact with her are beginning to occur more on demand, not just randomly. She does still like to laugh at random things for whatever reason. Her favorite spot in the house is her changing table. We get the most laughs and coos while she is laying there. If I had to guess her favorite color, I would say it is green because the walls in her nursery can calm her down almost instantly and she will stare and laugh at the walls for hours (well seconds and minutes). When Bryan and I wear the color green, she tends to become fascinated staring at our shirts. 

Staring at the wall:

Blakelyn has a variety of sounds and faces that she makes. We had her sleep in our room a few times before we decided that she is a loud sleeper and put her in her own room. I guess you could say that Blakelyn talks in her sleep. She will coo, laugh, cry, fuss, and grunt. As she begins to wake up, she will begin grunting and alternate between grunting and crying. We have learned that unless the cry is whaling, not to bother her. When she naps during the day, you can see and hear her coo, smile, laugh, and cry... I suppose she has some crazy dreams! Blakelyn also grunts when she is passing something through her system... She works hard for those poops! 

A video of her cooing (sorry it's sideways):

"I give in to the sleepiness:"

Hungry skinny girl preparing to eat:

As my mother-in-law has said, "I could watch Blakelyn's facial expressions all day long." I agree! Blakelyn makes all kinds of funny faces. She has Bryan's furrowed brow that she makes the most, especially when she is "studying" something. Our next door neighbor commented that Blakelyn looked angry when she first met her... I corrected her and said "nope that's just her face." Blakelyn has the ability to use her eyebrows to enhanced her facial expressions... I do believe she gets that from me and will be able to really exaggerate that as her muscle tone improves.

Speaking of muscle tone... this is how we find her in the mornings:

She somehow manages to wiggle her way to the other side of the crib and rotates 90 degrees!

More pictures:

I love seeing her neck:

And a video showing off her tongue skills: 

Blakelyn's First Month

Time flies with a new baby, and yet the days feel sooo long.  It's hard to believe that Blakelyn will be 6 weeks old on Thursday, she still seems so new.  I only say this because she has already outgrown many of her clothing, sad times.  She obviously got my length since I was a long baby and Bryan was short (can't believe that can you!!).  Blakelyn did get Bryan's thinness which makes her clothing look funny, she swims in them width wise, but can't straighten her legs all the way.

Not much is interesting to tell about Blakelyn's little life so far... she is your typical newborn: eat, sleep, fuss, poop (and in that exact order).  Digestion is very uncomfortable for her so she usually fusses during that process, but as soon as it all comes out... she smiles wide!! 

We introduced pacifiers and bottles around 2 weeks.  She doesn't seem to care where the food comes from (just as long as she gets it) and can enjoy a nice pacifier for comfort (although she doesn't always need or want it).  

Blakelyn is very much our child: she enjoys sleep.  We can put her down around 8-9 pm and she will sleep in 4-5 hour increments.  Of course she has her nights of fussiness and being wide awake. I usually don't mind the wide awake nights, especially when it's welcomed with a big gummy smile and happy coos:

Now for pictures:

Blakelyn has the tendency to poke her eyes out with her fingers... Bryan loves the built in mittens.

Celebrating her first holiday, Thanksgiving.

One of Bryan's co-workers' mom crocheted this adorable bee hat and bottom.  Blakelyn wore it to cheer on the Yellow Jackets during the Georgia vs Georgia Tech game... it didn't help the Jackets, so it must be a good luck charm for the Bulldawgs!!

She must be a side sleeper (like Bryan). When we put her on the boppy on her back, she scoots and wiggles to one of her sides to snooze.

One Month Photo shoot:

The look that is usually on her face:

A big yawn:

My favorite!  

It took about 18 shots to finally get this one! I suppose you could say Blakelyn's big accomplish this first month is her tongue reflex!