One month stats

Caroline turned one month old on Monday. Stunned? I am! To be honest, I'm thankful that these first few weeks are going faster than they did with Katie. (Am I a bad mom for saying that? Will I regret wishing these days away when she goes off to college? Probably, but for now I'm just keeping it real...)

We never doubted that Miss Caroline was starving (even though she often acts like she is). She weighed in at a whopping 11 pounds (90th percentile)! I guess that's what happens when you feed a child every two hours.....

She grew an inch and both her length and head circumference are in the 50th percentile. The doc said she was looking great!

Pics to come, but those are the stats for the grandfolks...

Easter 2009

"Herding Cats"

You can lead a horse to water....

Help! My once "angel baby" has begun to develop a pattern of waking up 45 minutes into her naps (which is 2 hours after she feeds). Boo. She acts hungry when she awakens (rooting, hungry cry), but she often does those same things when she's tired. I've been trying to give her a pacifier (she's still working on figuring it out though) and soothe her while leaving her in the crib. If that doesn't work, I'll pick her up, try the paci, pat her back, and loudly "shush." That'll usually get her to fall back asleep (sometimes it takes 10-15 minutes of that). Then I'll try to put her back down in the crib...sometimes she'll stay asleep, sometimes she won't. I know that if I keep holding her I can keep her asleep until her next feed, but obviously I can't make a habit of that! My concern is that she may genuinely be hungry because her feeds have been taking less time. I've always had to work at keeping her awake during feeds but lately it's gotten worse. Sometimes when I can rouse her all the way, she'll only eat for a few minutes and then do the "fake eating" suck, or she'll turn away or keep her lips pursed...which obviously makes me think she's satisfied. But then sometimes if I wait 5-10 more minutes, she'll act as if she's starving, but again will only feed a couple minutes and then fall asleep! And if she is getting satisfied, why is she waking up 2 hours later, seemingly hungry? Ack, babies! :)

Moms out there....any advice? Do you think I should feed her when she wakes up at the 2 hour mark, or do you think it's a sleep issue? How should I intervene if it's a sleep thing? And how on earth am I going to manage all this after my mom leaves and I have a three year old to take care of too?

Fingerprints of God

Sweet Caroline is 3 weeks old today. Wow. She has changed so much since March 20 and already fills out her 0-3 month clothing (unlike her older sister who could still sport some of her 0-3 month clothes when she was 7 months old!).

Other CG news:

-Her umbilical stump finally fell off yesterday, which meant that she got to have her first real bath last night!

-She has an incredibly strong neck and can hold it upright for several seconds and turn it from side to side when on her belly.

I can't help but sing this song in my head whenever I'm holding her. Steven Curtis Chapman wrote it for his daughter Emily when she was 13 years old and struggling with her self-image. Among the many truths that Adam and I long for our daughters to embrace is the reality that they are made in the image of God and the tremendous sense of value, worth, and beauty that gives.

Never has there been and never again will there be another you
Fashioned by God's hand and perfectly planned to be just who you are
And what He's been creating since the first beat of your heart
Is a living breathing priceless work of art.

I can see the fingerprints of God when I look at you.

I can see the fingerprints of God and I know its true

You're a masterpiece that all creation quietly applauds

And you're covered with the fingerprints of God.

2 weeks old

Caroline turned two weeks old last Friday. It's amazing how quickly the weeks are flying by this time around! She has definitely "woken up" these past few days. I fear that my label of "angel baby" may have been a bit premature. She still is a great baby, but her reflux has gotten worse and is causing some feeding/sleeping issues. She does pretty well during the day, but the nighttime has given us some trouble of late. Nothing abnormal, just par for the course when you have a newborn. I will say, however, the novelty of nighttime feedings has definitely worn off, and I'm more frequently resorting to the tv rather than my iPod to get me through the night. I'm already praying for her to sleep for longer stretches at night (or at least to go right back to sleep like she was before). Ah.

One good thing....after having been sick with a fever and aches/chills for 2 days, regular sleeplessness feels a heck of a lot better than sickness + sleeplessness!

She's certainly not starving! Check out those cheeks and chins!

(She's not normally cross-eyed, it just looks like it in this photo.)

Photo update

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Who is who?

Which one is Katie and which one is Caroline?

A.

B.