olivia's second month!

i'm 2 months old! 

things have changed so much since the last month! i'm happy to report that olivia is sleeping better, smiling lots, and generally seems much happier and more relaxed. of course we still have our rough times and fussy evenings sometimes, but overall, things are going pretty good! olivia's second month saw lots of days home with momma, some serious baby acne (pretty much all cleared up now!), dad's birthday and momma's first mother's day, and a great visit from aunt shell, uncle tim, and my grandparents (olivia's great grands!) last week!

smiling at papa

uncle tim & aunt shell just couldn't get enough of you! 

grandma didn't want to leave you!

olivia, you are sleeping so much better now! mother's day weekend we had a couple 6.5 hour stretches of sleep, and even one 7 hour stretch last week. that's not really typical yet, but you are starting to sleep in your crib longer (like 12 hours!) and just waking up to eat a couple times in the middle of the night. momma likes this! you also nap in the morning and several times in the afternoon!

happy mother's day! 

smiling at daddy :) 

you still love to eat and typically eat every two to three hours during the day. mom thought this was a little excessive, but the doctor said that was still very much normal! you're just a great eater!

dad and i just love that you are smiling more, "talking" quite a bit, and following us with your eyes. you are so fun! you've also discovered your tongue, are making little spit bubbles, and are trying really hard to suck your thumb. sometimes you get it, sometimes you chew on your fingers, and sometimes you just give up and suck on your entire fist.

success! 

you love to look around whatever room you're in and you seem very attentive. your favorite things to look at are the pictures on the wall and the bookcase. you seem to like the cookbooks best, i think you like the bright colors. you also love to look at the birds i painted on your wall and the paper mobile i made you when we are hanging out in your room. this makes mom happy! and i like to think that you might be an artist since you seem to like the art and bright colors best, but even if you're not that's okay!

tummy time champ at just 5 weeks 

you still love baths and going for walks! you also like your swing much more now, and you like to lay in your pack and play and look at the toys hanging above you and kick like crazy. and of course you LOVE to be held by pretty much anyone. mom and dad both love to hold you of course. i like to play with your legs and arms and sing silly songs i learned in church growing up, or if you're sleepy just rock you and stare at you. you're so beautiful and momma just loves you so much it hurts! and daddy loves to bounce you on his belly. you just love this and it works like a charm when you are fussy and fighting sleep. you'll start to close your eyes and lean forward until you end up falling asleep on his chest. it's so cute!

sleeping angel

sadly you got your first shots on your two month birthday, which certainly bothered momma more than you. you screamed and cried but only for a minute, whereas mom stayed upset for a while. you're so tough! you were fussier than usual that day but you also slept more. besides the shots, everything went great at the doctor. you now weigh 12 pounds and 13 ounces (!!!) and are 23 inches long! you are growing so fast!

olivia, mom and dad love you so much! you are such a sweet baby and we feel so blessed to have you as our own! even though our days tend to feel exhausting, part of me wants to slow time down so i can enjoy you even more. time is just going by so fast! but it is also so exciting to see you changing each day. you are so fun!

sleepy day

you ever just want to sleep all day? O definitely did this day (may 1st)!

trying to wake her up to eat... 

reclining back on my legs...

in the bouncer she usually doesn't care for too much...

during tummy time...

and on dad once he got home!

olivia's first month!

it took me weeks to write this blog post. sad. ah motherhood.    

(the one month photo shoot, which did take place on april 20th, was a bit rough. :))

  

my sweet baby girl is already one month old! (she was on april 20th!) i can't believe it! this month has been a bit of a total blur. i'm doing my best to treasure every moment, but man, i'm exhausted! time is definitely flying by. my friend ellen said (or maybe lots of people say it?), "the days are long but the years are short." so true. our days at home together tend to feel long and exhausting, but the last month has just sped by completely! anyway, i'll do my best to recap olivia's first month.

we came home from the hospital on march 23rd. nana (my mom) was here with us, and nonna (josh's mom) came the next day to help. nana left that day but ended up coming back because of snowy weather in the mountains. so the grandmas overlapped one night before nana headed home. the first week home we ventured out once for a check up at the pediatrician when you were five days old. you were already past your birth weight at 7 pounds, 8 ounces! the following week nana and grandpa were back here for their spring break. that week nana, mom, and you headed to a breastfeeding support group and went for your two week check-up, where the doctor said you were quite precocious, noting how strong you were! he also said you got an A+ for weight gain because you were up to 8 pounds, 4 ounces! we also ran a few errands and took some short walks around our apartment complex that week. not too exciting, but mom was still quite sore from the csection and we were just adjusting to normal life. our third week home "aunt" amanda came from texas for a whole week! this week things really got exciting, with some adventures out to target, penn station, biscuitville, kohl's, old navy, and longer walks in the stroller around the neighborhood. aunt amanda also took some amazing pictures of you while she was here! you basically had a personal photographer for the week! 

by the end of the week mom was feeling pretty decent, and we were starting to settle into our new lives more and more. mom was SO fortunate to have such amazing help in the early weeks of your life! the last week of your first month it was just you and mom, and boy was mom nervous! but, we managed! we didn't do anything too exciting, just ran some errands and such. 

here's some things mom has learned about you in your first month...

you are super snuggly and you love to be held. you had lots of people here to help hold you those first few weeks, and afterwards you still want to be held by momma a lot, making it hard for me to get anything done! you love to snuggle with daddy in the mornings after your first breakfast, and in the evenings after he gets home. 

you like your baby k'tan carrier and you usually just fall asleep all snuggled up next to momma. your car seat, on the other hand, is another story. i think since you don't really go out too much at the beginning you're just still getting used to being all strapped in. you generally don't mind it as long as it is moving in the car or stroller. but you might start screaming if we sit at a red light too long!

  

you really like bath time! you tolerated your sponge baths but you really like reclining in your little tub in the sink! your favorite part is getting your hair rinsed. you just love to be warm! 

you also like your passy, but you're not addicted to it. it's really something we resort to when your fussy. speaking of fussy, you can be fussy. sometimes dad and i just can't figure out what you want! mom has definitely shed some tears trying to figure out just what it is you want, and i think sometimes you get pretty gassy or something. in the end you always calm down and go to sleep! 

speaking of sleep, you've been mostly sleeping at night since day 1, meaning you've never seemed to have your days and nights mixed up. you do like to go to bed later and sleep later into the morning, in addition to your sporadic naps in the day. usually (not always) at night we get one four-ish hour stretch and then a couple more two to three hour stretches. of course sometimes you just want to eat all night it seems, because you definitely love your momma's liquid gold! you love it so much that you weighed a whopping 10 pounds and 10 ounces at your 1 month checkup! 

olivia, mom and dad love you so much and we feel so blessed to be your parents! we're so glad God picked us to raise you because you are truly amazing! we can't wait to see what the future holds and what kind of child and woman you'll become (but don't grow up too fast!).