Rosalie Nuggets

- Milk came out of her nose for the first time while feeding last week.
- She's been a sneezer (you've seen the video). Now, she's becoming quite the snot rocket. It's funny (and cute) to find random goobers in her crib, on her clothes, and on her cheek.
- Rosalie has some stronger neck muscles. She doesn't have full control, but she can hold her head up off our shoulder and chest when she's on her tummy.

I was thinking how funny it is that I get proud about some of Rosalie's grossest stuff. Some parents are proud about long stretches of sleep at night, neck strength, and smiles, not me! Boogers, bowel movements, burps - the bigger the better!

2 Weeks Old

Looking back at the last two weeks (as we enter the last weekend of my paternity leave), it seems like a month. The first week was fun - we were playing Mommy and Daddy. In the second week, exhaustion and reality sunk in - we're going to be nursing and changing diapers for a loooooonnnnnng time. Not that getting up a few times in the middle of the night and making sure to be attentive throughout the day to Rosalie's needs aren't worth it. The honeymoon phase is over. Next week will be a whole new adventure with me at work and Mary still at home.

Rosalie's just about out of her Newborn size clothes. Some of the bigger stuff still fits, the smaller stuff has already been retired. We're trying to use the last of the newborn size diapers while we can; the rest we'll pass on to the next new parents.

Rosalie has had many visitors. Both sets of grandparents were here after the birth, the Anderson's returned again this week for a night. Janice and Jan have both brought food as a bribe to rock her. And she's met some new friends: Carter Alderks, Ellie Wallheimer, and Mallory Kotewa. More visitors are scheduled to come in this weekend and in the coming weeks.

Below is a slideshow of pics from the last week. If you want to see a larger pic to download it, just click it during the slideshow!

Rosalie's First Graduation

Rosalie had her second Dr's appointment today. The first thing they did was weigh her - 7 lbs 5 oz! That's up 17 ounces from last Monday! Mary and I thought there would be some weight gain after seeing her face and chins (plural) fill out, but didn't think she'd be such a champ.
Because she's gaining so much weight and has been pooping and peeing regularly, she's graduated from Breastfeeding 101. At this rate, we expect her to graduate from Newborn size clothes/diapers to 0-3 month clothes in about a week.

Aesop's Fables

The first thing we ever bought for Rosalie were books. In July, we were at Barnes & Noble and Mary picked out Chickey Chickey Chook Chook and I picked out Aesop's Fables and Grimm's Fairy Tales (2 for 1 sale). Mary's eyes rolled. My arguement was that it doesn't matter what you read while they're in your arms, as long as you read (go ahead and gag yourself, Mary did).
Flash forward six months...
After reading her the story of The Fox and The Grapes, I set the book down to change Rosalie's diaper. Midway through, there was literally an explosion and the book was caught by the shrapnel.
And the moral of the story is thus: That which you intend to keep should not be put in harm's way.

Being a baby is soooooo tiring!

Milestones - Already???

Today was Rosalie's first bath! Of course it took twice as long as it will next time, but we wanted to enjoy it as much as we could. Of course, it exhausted her which gave us time to take care of a few things around the house. Before dinner, Mary got Rosalie ready for another nap (post feeding) - her first smile? Was she smiling at the song Twinkle Twinkle Little Star? Or was she smiling at how Mary forgot the words (she remembers more than I do)?
The Elizabeth Ministry at church is sending over meals (as are friends). I thought it would be awkward to accept food, but, on our schedule, anything that can make it a little easier is welcome!

Rock A Bye Baby

We came home from the hospital Sunday and everything has been a blur of feeding, diapers, and lack of sleep. I think we're starting to find our rhythm. The hardest time is at night. If babies sleep for 18 hours a day, Rosalie spends her 6 hours awake from midnight to 6am! It's not all bad. I quite enjoy rocking her to sleep while she lays on my chest. Last night, I fell asleep too.

Ah-Choo!

Meet The (Grand)Parents

It's A Girl!

"This Feels So Weird..."

Mary's had her epidural and now she's finally comfortable. But, her feet and legs tingle a little and she can't get over the feeling. "This feels so weird..."

On New Years Eve morning, Mary's labor began. Her contractions began at 3am. By 3pm, the contractions were consistant, but not close enough. Jamie and Dave and Janice and Tim came over to play some cards and celebrate the New Year. By 3am on January 1st, the contractions became painful. At 4, they were 6 minutes apart and lasted for a minute on average - close enough to go to the hospital!

At the hospital, we were told Mary was only 1.5 centimeters. Three to four hours of painful contractions later, they sent us home at 1.5cm with a pain pill to either stop labor or give Mary enough relief to sleep.

Every 7 minutes, we both woke up, Mary wailing in pain. It was as though the baby was about to just pop out! By 3pm, Mary had enough and we called our midwife - time to return to the hospital!

By 4pm, Mary was 4cm. A little discouraging - all that pain for such little progress. They hooked up an IV, gave her an epidural, and they sent for our midwife.

Our midwife just popped in and checked - Mary is 10cm! She went from 4 to 10cm in a matter of two/three hours! The midwife manually broke Mary's waters and is getting ready for Mary to push....