Inchworm

For the last week or so, we have been finding Jillian with her head up near the top of the bassinet when she wakes up in the morning or after a nap. We usually lay her down closer to the bottom so that the Q-See camera can see her, but it looks like she is using her legs now to push herself up there. Our little girl is mobile! Yikes!

We've also noticed lately that she when she is on her back, she is pushing with her right leg while arching her back, making her turn to her side just slightly ... just the first step to rolling over.

Shots & More

Now that Jillian is 2 months old (as of yesterday), it was time for a well baby check-up with Dr. Zawacki. Mommy actually went first, to make sure all her post-partum stuff was OK ... and it all looked good. In the meantime, Jillian took a nap until it was her turn.

The first order of business after waking her up was to get her diaper changed and strip her down naked (which she loved, as always). Then it was time for measurements. The nurse weighed Jillian at 11 lbs 6 ounces, which like before was in the 50th percentile; her length was 23 inches, which was in the 75th percentile (again); and her head size continued to be in the 90th percentile at 40 cm. So, she seems to be growing at a pretty typical pace for a kid her size.

Dr. Zawacki then came in and checked her over, measuring her heartbeat, breathing and ears ... and everything looked good there. And the doctor was pleased with her growth, as well.

After that, it was time for the dreaded shots. We knew that Jillian would have to get 3 shots on this visit, including vaccinations for hepatitis B, polio, DTaP and others. The nurse warned us about the size of the needles, and she wasn't kidding ... they were long! When she stuck the first one into her leg, there was a momentary pause on Jillian's face, followed by lots of screaming and a bright red face. The nurse quickly did the last two shots, and by the end, Jillian was down to just a mad whimper. She sure was a tough little girl!

Mommy had a good plan, too. She immediately started feeding Jillian as soon as the nurse left, so we had a much happier baby when it was time to leave. It wasn't long before she went right to sleep, no doubt exhausted by all the poking and prodding.

Baptism

Jillian was baptized this Sunday at Grace Lutheran Church, the same place that her Mommy was baptized when she was a baby. Here's a photo of Jillian in her white baptismal dress.

Jillian's Godparents, Uncle Clark & Aunt Greta and Uncle Kevin & Aunt Julie, were with her during the ceremony. She did very well almost the entire time (just a small cry at the end). Pastor Donnan performed the baptism, while a large gathering of family and friends were watching in the pews. Her cousin Andy was also baptized on this day.

After the baptism, everyone went out to Papa Pete's Pizza to celebrate, and also for McKenna's birthday. Jillian received many nice gifts to remember this by.

Story Time

This morning, Jillian was in a good mood. So, while Mommy was catching a few more zzz's, Daddy got out "Big Dog, Little Dog" and read it to the little munchkin. She was very attentive, quietly looking at the pictures on each page and listening to the story. So, we kept on reading more and more books like "Go, Dog, Go", "Ten Apples Up on Top", "Are You My Mother?" and on and on. Jillian kept her eyes on the book, and she would even get a little excited, especially when I said "Go, dogs, go!" We read a lot of books, and eventually she started to doze off ... until she realized she was hungry again.

Sighting No. 7

Here's our little sweetie pie, looking cute in her purple pajamas.

It looks like Jillian is going to have brown hair (dark or light, we're not sure ...), based on the little brown fuzz that's appearing on top of her head. And who knows, maybe she'll end up keeping the long black hair she was born with.

Big Urp

It was one of Jillian's biggest eruptions so far ... a major spit-up that looked like an entire meal. She had been fed a couple bottles by Grannie earlier, and had snoozed a little. When she woke up, she went ballistic, and nothing much was calming her down. So, Heather tried feeding her, and even though Jillian was nursing like she was hungry, we would find out quickly that she was just trying to pacify herself ... that's when the milk explosion happened. Daddy had flashbacks of her cousin Cale's gi-normous urps!

Little Owl

Jillian continues to explore new sounds as much as she can. Her newest one has been "hoo, hoo, hoo", like she's a little owl. Heather said she did it a whole bunch on Monday, and gave some of the neighbor ladies a show during their afternoon tea when she visited them.

Our View

This is how we see Jillian a lot of the time ... taking a little snooze while we hold her. It's gotten easier to tell when she is tired and ready for a nap, because after some awake time, she'll start fussing a bit, followed by some tired crying (the kind that's a little lower on the volume dial), and eventually closed eyes.

Putting Jillian to sleep can sometimes make for a tired Mommy or Daddy. If we have her nap on top of us, her little hot body helps us to nap as well ... though, she's so hot that when we wake up, both baby and parent end up soaking wet with sweat.

Sighting No. 6

Just for kicks, here's a fun photo of Jillian. She was getting all excited about hearing herself talk ... there's nothing that gets her more worked up than that. Looks like we may have quite the little chatterbox soon!

Sleeping In

Last night was Jillian's first time of sleeping (mostly) through the night! It had been a busy day, and at the end, Heather laid Jillian down in the bassinet at about 11:45 pm. She woke up every now and then, and we could hear her rustling around, but she managed to put herself back to sleep without any crying. It wasn't until about 8:40 am that she finally started fussing, and we got her up to feed ... and even then she was pretty groggy. But, she managed to get nearly 9 hours of nighttime sleep.

Camera Happy

The little Q-See camera is always attached to Jillian's bassinett, so it is her constant companion at night and sometimes for naps in the daytime. At night, it has a circle of red LED lights that she likes to look at, and during the day, there's not much else interesting to look at. So, when we are watching the monitor, we will catch her looking right at the camera with big, wide eyes ... and like this morning, she had a huge grin on her face. Maybe she's had so many pictures take of her, that she knows to smile for the camera already!

Wiggle Worm

As Jillian has started bulking up, she has gotten more active and been working those muscles a lot more. Now, when she is having floor time or something like it, she can move her head back and forth pretty easily, and of course her arms and legs continue to flail everywhere. And Daddy has had to be a little more careful when carrying her ... the first month or so, Jillian couldn't move around much, even when she was mad. But that's changed, because when she gets mad these days, she can kick and arch her back and throw her head around. She's become even more of a wiggle worm than before!

Talky Time

Actually, nowadays it's always talky time with Jillian. She started talking on the changing table, and then during floor time, and lately it's pretty much everywhere. She has learned several new sounds to make, and she is always working really hard, moving her mouth trying to get something to come out. Here's a short little 4 second clip of Jillian talking.

Routine

Heather has gotten Jillian into a pretty good routine ... though we use the term loosely. It's just a lot better than it used to be. The most predictable time is at night, when Jillian gets fed around 9:00 am, and then goes sound asleep in her bassinett until about 1:00 am. She gets fed again, and usually goes right back to sleep until about 5:00 am. After another feeding, she sleeps in until 9:00 am, and by that time Mommy has gotten enough sleep to function. Although the daytime routine isn't as structured, Jillian still wants to feed about every 2-3 hours, so we can at least plan around that.

Sighting No. 5

Here's a photo of Jillian in a reflective moment. In this one, you can almost see that her eyes are blue.

This was taken while we were at Ty and Brock's baseball games in Castle Rock on Saturday, on a beautiful spring day when it had to be well over 80 degrees. Unfortunately, none of us were used to it, especially Jillian. She was fussing pretty good about the heat, so we had to leave the games early.

Self Control

While changing Jillian's diaper this morning, I gave her some time to relax and play on the changing table. The new thing that she is able to do now is (kind of) control her hand so that she can put her fist in her mouth! This wasn't like the random and sometimes wild waving of her hand that would occasionally find her mouth, and more often hit her in the head (which made her cry). This time, she slowly brought her fist up several times directly to her mouth.

And as a side note, the fist she has been using lately is on her left hand! Probably too early to tell, but it's always fun to speculate.

Gripper

When Jillian has floor time, she spends most of her time looking around, moving her arms and legs, and occasionally trying to talk. We also like to get involved with some her toys by moving them around in front of her to watch her track them, and especially to get a smile come out. This time, we put her crab rattle in her hand ... and she grabbed onto it! Not for long though, before her arms started flailing and the rattle became a weapon.

Chunky

Jillian and Mommy made one more trip today to SWMC for a breastfeeding support class. Heather wanted to go just to see how much Jillian weighed, and how much milk she was getting. It was also a chance to donate some newborn-sized diapers and powdered formula to any mothers who might need them.

Mommy was thrilled to see that Jillian is now up to 9 lbs 13 ounces ... we had figured she was getting closer to 10 lbs since we could feel it in our back and shoulders. Plus, the rolls in her arms and legs were getting even more pronounced, and her cheeks are chubbier than ever.

The instructor also weighed Jillian before and after a feeding, and found that Heather is supplying about 4-1/2 ounces of milk! That's a lot, especially considering the first few days after birth when we were happy to get even 1 ounce total. So, that's likely the last class ... we'll find out her next weight at her 2 month well-baby check-up.

Sighting No. 4

Here's a quick little photo of Jillian.

We think she has gotten used to having so many digital pictures taken of her ... because the flash doesn't even faze her anymore.

So Mad

Just when we thought we had most of her cries figured out, like the hungry cry, the wet / poopy cry, the tired cry, etc ... this afternoon, Jillian unleashed her scary mad cry. This wasn't just any mad cry like we've seen before. We could literally feel the anger in this one, and it was probably because she got woken up before she was ready. All Mommy and Daddy could do was look at each other, shake our heads and say "Wow! What a temper!"

Sunday Dress

Jillian made another trip to church this past Sunday, and she got to wear the spring dress that her Aunt Lee gave her.

When we arrived at Grace Lutheran, Jillian was asleep because she had just fed ... and she slept through some of the service before waking up. When Mommy and baby returned from the feeding, it was just in time for communion. Jillian was fussing, but Mommy said "Let's go for it" and took her up to the altar. The cries got louder, and pretty soon Jillian had gotten everyone's attention. Those little lungs can really fill a room! Mommy managed to pacify her with her finger, in just enough time to receive a blessing from Pastor Donnan. I guess it's no surprise that Jillian's first trip to the altar would be full of excitement ... no doubt, Grandma (Karlene) Peterson was smiling the whole time!

Smiles

It's not just gas anymore ...

When Jillian gets someone in her sights, she now gives them a big smile. Mommy and Daddy see it lots ... either when coming home after being away for a bit, or most often, after Jillian wakes up from a nap. She has a very big grin, and she also gets excited at the same time with her arms and legs waving around.

Strolling

Finally, some nice weather! Which means it's time for Jillian to start spending some time outdoors, even if she does have to get bundled up in a mummy wrap. Here's a photo of Jillian in her stroller (a gift from Aunt Robin and Aunt Julie) and wearing her bear snuggly (a gift from her Aunt Lynne).

Jillian likes the rolling and bumping motion of riding in her stroller, and she promptly fell asleep as we made our way on the paths of Lake Sacajawea. But when we stopped to talk with some friends, she woke up and started crying ... so we had to get moving again quickly. When we got home, we had a very relaxed and happy little girl!

Long Night

Every now and then, Jillian gets a little mixed up on her days and nights. Like last night ...

Daddy woke up at 3:00 am to the sound of Jillian crying. And then found out that Mommy had not gotten a wink of sleep yet. Not good! Jillian had been fed at midnight, and right afterwards her eyes popped open like it was "play time". Mommy spent the next few hours walking, rocking and even feeding Jillian some more, but she was in full fussy & tired-cry mode. Daddy tried to help out, but it wasn't until about 4:30 am that Jillian eventually zzzz'd off. Here's hoping that things are back to normal tonight!

Sighting No. 3

Jillian loves her "nakey time"! It's her big chance to be free of diapers, onesies, socks, hats and everything else. Here's a photo of her on the changing table.