Allison turns Two Months

Allison turned two months yesterday. This past month has been great.

She is starting to smile a lot. On Saturday, I went into work for several hours to get a few things done. When I came home she was sleeping in her swing. When she woke up, I went to take her out and she let out with a big smile when she saw me. That made my day.

She has made new "friends" the past couple of weeks. "Pinky" the puppy is her favorite (seen in the above picture). She loves how soft it is and will hold on to it. She loves when I rub it against her face. She is also friends with "Piggy the Blanket" and "Froggy." They live in her swing to guard and protect her while she is in there.

We have fallen into a routine which is nice. She usually wakes up around 7:30. She loves laying on the bathroom rug and listening to the water when I take a shower. Lately she has been swiping at the shower curtain which keeps her entertained. After I get ready, it is play time where we do tummy time on her boppy pillow or she lays on her activity mat and watches the butterflies above her. We get the best smiles from her during this time.

Around 9:30 or so, she starts to get sleepy, so I pack her in her stroller and take her for a walk. I have gotten to know our neighborhood quite a bit these past few weeks, as I try to walk for an hour. We have even made it to the library twice. Yeah!

After the morning nap, I try to keep her busy for an hour and put her down around noon. On good days, I get a three hour nap from her.

The toughest part of the day has been in the evening as that is her crankiest time of day. However we are noticing a improvement the last couple of weeks. She loves to lie (or is it lay) on the dining room table and chill in the evening. She will stay there for the longest time, just looking around and kicking her legs and arms. I call her Sean Casey (from the Detroit Tigers) because she always gets one leg really going and look like him when he is up to bat.

Our evening ends with a bath. I would say two out of three baths go very well. She is usually down for the night between 8 - 9 pm. On Monday she slept from 9ish until 6 am and last night it was 10 pm - 5 am. We are hoping that she continues this.

I officially start working from home next Monday. We will see how that goes. I will keep you posted.

Hope all is going well in your lives. We would love to hear from you.

Warrior Badge

Allison received her first warrior badge, well actually it was her 2nd but we won't talk about the band-aid that was needed after mom cut her finger nails. Moving on...Allison had her two month appointment today. She weighs 10 lb and 2 oz (she was 6. 11 at birth and 7.11 at her 2 week appointment). She is 21.5 inches tall, so she is growing nicely.

She was a real cutie for the Dr. She was smiling big time until the nurses came in... and then it was time for the shots. The bad thing was that she started to get fussy before they even came in so she didn't start off on a good foot. I am happy to report that her lungs are working just fine and she was more than happy to show the nurses how well she can scream. However Dad came to the rescue and quickly calmed her down. She is now snug in her swing, sleeping off the trauma of this morning. My nephew Ben can be rest assured that she got plenty of band-aids for her troubles, including a cool looking Garfield one.

Dear Johnson and Johnson

Dear Johnson and Johnson,

As part of our nightly bedtime ritual we use your "Bedtime Bath" products. According to your website these products are to help relax babies and provide a better night sleep. According to your website

Dreamland awaits. JOHNSON'S® BEDTIME BATH® is formulated with NATURALCALM ™ essences - a special blend of calming aromas. Use this gentle cleanser for your baby's nighttime bath as part of a 3-step nightly routine to help her sleep better.

As you can see in the attached picture it appears that we have a defective bottle. Please issue us a refund. Thank you.

Full of Smiles

In the past few weeks Allison has been starting to smile. Here are a few shots. Most of the time by the time the camera takes the picture the smile is gone, however I got a few good shots.

Allison - The Amazing Farting Baby

It was the dog - really. It wasn't me

It's a Miracle

It's a Miracle - we actually made it to church. Not only did we make it, but we actually stayed the whole service. This was the first time we went. We tried to go on Labor Day Weekend. We were dressed, the diaper bag was packed, the car was in the driveway running and ready to go - the only problem was that we had a crying screaming baby in the car seat. Did I mention that she was screaming? We figured it was a no go.

She actually had a few good car rides this weekend. On Saturday, Brian helped his cousin Amy move to her new apartment. After they arrived at the new place Allison and I drove over there to help put stuff away. After lunch Brian brought her back home. A round trip without any screaming.

We have come up with an idea that hopefully will make car rides go smoother. The one thing that can calm her down is the vacuum cleaner, so we have put the portable, handheld dustbuster type vacuum in my car. We will see if that works.

Last weekend Allison met her family on her dad's side. We had a little open house get together her at the house. The weather was perfect. Allison behaved. We are looking forward to Aunt Lori visiting on Friday and Aunt Keri and the kids the following weekend. We are thinking about heading to Flint in the next couple of weeks. We are hoping that maybe we can find a babysitter for a couple of hours, so Brian and I can go to Birch Run. Any takers?

Best Buddies