Happy Baby

Finally! These are the smiles that cause Rey and I to melt. 9 times out of 10, this is what we get when she sees us as we are getting her from the crib after she wakes up.

3 Months!!

It is hard to believe our baby girl is now 3 months old. No doctors appointment this month so no official stats, but we think she weighs about 11.5 pounds. She refused to smile for me while I tried to take some good 3 month pictures and I have tried for three days! Hopefully Daddy can coax a smile this weekend so she has a good one to look back on.

Clearly tired of having her picture taken.

Sucking on her bottom lip is a favorite past time.

The biggest news is that we have successfully completed 'operation deswaddle'. And it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. If I have learned any thing about being a parent in these three months, it is that you can't rush them into the next step or milestone and if you pay close enough attention and listen they will let you know when they are ready for it. Her daddy did a great job at listening. After a tough bedtime struggle, he took over and figured out that she was upset because her arms were swaddled. He took them out, snuggled with her, set her down in the crib and she was asleep and perfectly happy. We haven't looked back. Sure, it hasn't been a piece of cake and there have been a few more late night wake ups, but she seems much happier. She sleeps great unswaddled, but we are working on helping her figure out how to fall asleep with her arms free. She gets a little better at it each day. She has also started rolling over from her back to her belly at night, so the timing couldn't be any better!

Step one, arms out... SUCCESS. The rest of the swaddle has since been removed.

Other accomplishments:

- Mommy and Daddy had their first date night and Maya had a great time with Aunt Jenny!

- She has established a bedtime around 7:30 and just gets up once to eat. She loves to sleep on her side and is starting to prefer her fingers to the pacifier.

- We had our first 4AM diaper blow out. It was not fun for me to clean up, but Maya was giggling the whole time I was changing her PJs and blankets. Luckily she fell right back to sleep after every thing was clean.

- As I mentioned above, she now rolls from back to belly. I have not actually witnessed this yet, she seem to only like to do it in her crib in the middle of the night.

- We are no longer using the infant seat for the stroller, she is big enough to sit directly in the seat for our walks. I think she enjoys it more since she can see every thing and doesn't have to stare at me the whole time.

Grandma managed to get a smile!

Randomness

Just some fun pictures of the week.

I can no longer keep the TV on as background noise during the day as Maya will contort herself into any position to watch it. We have switched to music! You can also see she is gripping her toy. She has really discovered her hands and can grab on to almost every thing.

The big news for the week is that we have transitioned Maya to her own room at night! I think it was tougher for me than her as she had no troubles at all. It is nice to get a little extra sleep since she isn't keeping me up with all her noises. I think the ones who are happiest about this step though are the kitties who are now allowed to sleep on our bed again! She's still swaddled, but that will be the next change since she breaks out of it every night. I just wish she could fall asleep without it, unfortunately her hands and feet are way too much fun and she plays with them and keeps herself up. I haven't yet figured how we will manage this one!

Playing with Daddy. We still get lots of smiles and she has even giggled a couple times!

And here she is just being cute.

Old and new friends

This week Maya met a lot of new friends.

We visited some new babies...

Miss Mikayla Jasmin, who was born on July 31st. These two are going to have no choice but to be best friends!

Miss Sage Marie, who was born on July 24th. Also, soon to be a great friend of Maya's. Tyler is an 'old' friend who is two days younger than Maya. They have gone on all sorts of walking adventures together. Apparently Tyler does not like being stuck in the middle of two beautiful girls!

Also, we got together with my oldest friends and their kiddos and spent some fun time at Mukilteo beach. Apparently we have known each other for 22 years now, I don't like to think that we could possibly be that old! It was great to see them all!

Macie is four, Trevek is four months, Cole is a year and Maya is two months.

Melting

Well, it appears we have survived the worst of the heat wave here in Seattle. Wednesday was the peak and the temperature was well over 100 degrees outside. Our house held steady at 90. Luckily, the last heat wave we had was right when we brought Maya home from the hospital and at that time we caved and bought a portable AC unit for our bedroom. Maya and I spent a lot of time over the last week trying to entertain ourselves in that one room. Walks were out of the question and the one time we decided to venture out to the mall to utilize their AC, it was so crowded with people doing the same thing that it just made me grumpier.

It was much cooler today (somewhere around 85) and we were very excited to venture out. I was a little stir crazy.

With all the time on her hands, Maya discovered her feet!

Thank goodness for her favorite toy; the magical star that lights up and plays music. She can talk to that thing forever and it provided a whole lot of entertainment when we were cooped up.

We got in a lot of tummy time. Her neck is really becoming strong.

Other accomplishments this week:

- Daddy and Maya spent their first evening at home alone while Mommy enjoyed a much needed girls night out. I hear they had a whole lot of fun together.

- We are officially signed up for daycare when it comes time. It's tougher than I thought it would be, but I know she will learn a lot.

- She is really starting to use her hands and is constantly trying to grab at things. You can see the concentration on her face when she is focusing on it.

- She is definitely a chatter box and we get huge smiles whenever she sees us, which makes it all so fun.

Two Months!

Today is Maya's two month birthday. She had her pediatrician appointment yesterday and she is looking great. She now weighs 9lbs 13oz (25%) and is 22 1/2 inches tall (50%). Although still small she managed to gain three pounds since her two week appointment. The doctor thinks she will one of the lucky ones and will be petite her whole life. She survived her shots, but was a bit cranky the rest of the day. I would be too if they stuck me with a needle three times!

We now get smiles all the time and she sure loves to talk!

More South Carolina

Just a couple more cute pictures from the trip...

All the babies.

Sleeping soundly.

Bathing beauty.

First dip in the pool with Grandpa.

Reading with Mommy.