Spring Fever

We've had a few really nice days around here lately. On Saturday, Jenna and I went shopping with my mom (Nonnie), and it was so warm outside. Poor Jenna was way over dressed. When we got home I stripped her down to just a onesie. Looking through her closet I realized we really didn't have any spring or summer clothes. So, Sunday us three girls headed back out to the mall and hit up the Gymboree Spring Break sale. Seriously cute stuff!! Up until Sunday, I hadn't done any shopping for Jenna. She has received so many gifts that we have not had to buy her anything. It helped me not feel so guilty on Sunday. Anyways, today was a beautiful day and so we decided to go with one of her spring outfits. This adorable outfit was given to Jenna by her Uncle J and Auntie JoJo. Pat dressed her (and even added the bow) and brought her out to me and I almost died because she just looked so cute!! I love her little body and she's always so covered up. I can't wait for all the spring and summer outfits to come! Thanks Auntie JoJo, Uncle J, Paige and Ally for this adorable outfit...we LOVE it!

What a Trooper

Today was Jenna's 4 month well baby check. I truly love our pediatrician and I look forward to the appointments, except of course, the shots. Pat had to work today, and because I was dreading going alone, I made Papa go with us. I just didn't want to do the shot thing all by myself. Jenna got a total of 4 shots today, 2 in each thigh. She screamed and turned bright red, and it was pretty awful. It brought tears to my eyes actually. Papa did pretty well though. Other than the shots, the appointment went pretty well. Jenna weighed in at 15.5 pounds even, and measured 25 inches. She's in the 90th percentile for weight and the 75th percentile for height. Her check-up went really well and everything looked perfect. Her pediatrician said she is behaving more like a 6 month old and even went out to get the 6 month check-up sheet to show me that she is already doing things that were listed on it. I, of course, was so happy to hear that. He told us we could start giving her rice cereal now and soon we can start some stage 1 fruits and veggies. She has been getting rice cereal in her bottles because of her reflux but he said to try the spoon now. We'll see how that goes. But anyways, here's a picture of Jenna with her matching band-aids. This was taking after a bottle and a nap. Looks like the shots aren't bothering her too much.

4 Months!!!

It's hard to believe that Jenna is 4 months old today. She seems like such a big baby already and is interacting so much more with us. According to our pediatrician, 4 months is a magical age. When we sat in his office crying about her reflux and fussiness (when she was 3 weeks old), he told us life would be beautiful at 4 months. He was definitely right. She is such a happier baby now and we are so much more at ease with her. She brings such joy to our lives and we love her more than we ever thought possible. She is so huggable and kissable and I think we sometimes drive her crazy with all our kisses! Oh well...she will have to suffer through it. I'm going to steal Kelly's idea for monthly updates so here goes.

At 4 months Jenna is...

• Wearing 3-6 month clothing
  
• Wearing size 2 diapers
  
• Eating approximately 20-24 ounces of formula per day


• Taking 2-3 naps that last anywhere from 45 minutes- 2 hours


• Going to bed at 7 pm and waking up at 730 am, with 1-2 feedings in between


• Starting to giggle a lot more


• Cooing and babbling, and even starting to squeal with delight


• Has a major love of hair. She will watch me blowdry and flat iron mine every day, and loves playing with daddy's stiff, spiky hair.


• Loves her nightly bath...seriously it's her favorite time of day


• Likes playing on her Baby Einstein mat


• Likes hanging out in her jumperoo


• Loves to read stories...her favorites are Brown Bear Brown Bear What do you Hear and Polar Bear Polar Bear What do you See


• Loves to listen to her daddy play the piano (this is the sure fire way to calm her down)


• Is starting to take an interest in the Baby Einstein DVDs


• Still not the best car traveler, i.e. she screams bloody murder about 50% of the time


• Chewing on her left index finger and putting everything in her mouth


• The absolute sweetest little baby and the joy in our lives

Ferber v. Focker

Ahhh...the sleeping baby is so perfect and so angelic and just so lovely. The process of getting the baby to sleep...not so much. Jenna is a fairly good sleeper at this point. She still fights napping on some days but for the most part she takes 2-3 naps a day that range from 45 minutes - 2 hours in length. At night, she sleeps anywhere from 5-8 hour stretches before waking for a feeding. So I'm sure you are all thinking we should consider ourselves lucky and stop complaining. Our main problem is the process of getting to sleep. When Jenna was about 6 weeks old we started creating a nighttime routine for her. She has a bath, a bottle, and is rocked/ walked/ bounced until she falls asleep. We then put her in her bed and hope for the best. A lot of the time she awakens within 10-15 minutes and cries. We then go back and start the rock/walk/ bounce process over. Sometimes this goes on for 2 hours! I just don't have the patience for that. Plus I don't think we are doing her any favors by not encouraging her to learn some self-soothing techniques. She does use a pacifier at naptime and bedtime, and the blanket at naptime only (SIDs risk). So our pediatrician is recommending the Ferber method. Dr Richard Ferber is the cry-it-out guy. Pat prefers the Focker method...you know from the movie Meet the Fockers, which is the opposite of the Ferber method. He doesn't like her to cry and he would prefer to cuddle and love on her until she falls asleep again. I'm torn. I of course don't enjoy her crying but as I stated I do not have the patience for 2 hours of putting my child to bed. I've been doing some research and have decided that we need to start bedtime earlier, which we started last night. The actual putting her down was beautiful!! But...she woke up around 1230 am thinking it was time to play. Then she woke up at 330 am thinking it was time to play. Finally at 730 am it was time to play. Tonight, I put her down at 700 pm and it was wonderful. It's now 1140 pm and she is still sleeping and my fingers are crossed. But...in case this is not the answer to our problems, I need some opinions. Anyone reading this should feel free to make a comment and give us opinions and/or advice. What worked for you, what didn't work for you, etc. Should we Ferberize or Fockerize??

Why you don't send a man to Lowe's alone...

So last weekend we had some friends over for dinner and games, and we tried to straighten up the house a bit. Pat decided to head over to Lowe's to pick up some light bulbs as we had many burned out bulbs throughout the house. So, he's gone for a really long time and I assumed he stopped somewhere else. When he returned home, I was in the back bedroom getting ready. He's all smiles and charming, which means something is up. He tells me that he bought something else at Lowe's and he thinks I should come check it out. Behold the firepot (if that's even what it's called). He proceeds to explain that it puts out more heat than a fire pit and it will add ambiance to our patio and enhance our entertaining. He goes ahead and lights a fire in it and it put out so much smoke you'd think our house was on fire. We quickly put the fire out and decided we better wait until after dark to attempt it again. Well, our friends came over and we never used it that night. Fast forward to tonight. Pat made a fire and we sat out on our patio with some coffee (from his new French press, which is a whole different story), and I must admit, it is pretty cool. So anyways, that's the firepot story. Funniest part is, he forgot the light bulbs.

Happy St. Patty's Day!!

Today is Jenna's first St. Patrick's Day and I LOVE her outfit. My mom got it for her a few weeks ago and I knew it would be perfect for today. Jenna surely won't be getting pinched by anyone! Hope you all have a fun day!

How Time Flies

Holy Smokes how fast time flies. I can't believe how much Jenna has changed. She's almost too big for the bath chair. She loves bath time so much but she is such a little daredevil. Every night she attempts to fling herself out of the chair. She actually has accomplished this feat twice, and she went all the way under the water. She didn't love that so much but pretty much handled it like a champ. Anyways, off to bathe the little fish now.

Here We Go...

Alright, so I am finally giving in and starting a blog. I'm not sure who all will be interested in what I have to say but I do have a cute kid and I'm thinking most people will just be checking for new pictures of her. So anyways, I think I'll start with a quick update on what's new here at our house.

Jenna is now 3 months and 1 week old, which is nuts! It feels like we just had her and like she's been here forever all at the same time. Pat and I are adjusting fairly well to parenthood and are, of course, madly in love with our little one. I just started back to work, which has been a little difficult. I hate being away from Jenna for 12 hours...it's entirely too long. Usually when I leave for work she is still sleeping and when I get home, she is on her way to bed. Fortunately, I only have about 3 more months of 12 hour shifts left. I'm in the last semester of my master's program and thrilled to death to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Pat is working at Fresno State and for his father. He spends a lot of time taking care of Jenna while I'm at clinicals and at work and I'm so happy to say that Jenna is just as happy with Daddy as she is with Mommy, which is important to me.

As for Jenna, she is:

• Rolling over, both from her tummy to her back, and her back to her tummy
• Wearing 3-6 month sized clothing
• Sleeping anywhere from 4-7 hour stretches at night
• Smiling all the time and giggling occasionally
• Absolutely loving her nightly bath
• A very loved little girl