Tummy Time Pays Off

Reaping the benefits of tummy time, Katelyn is enjoying the world from a whole new vantage point. Last week at school her teacher said she had a straight 20-minute stretch of tummy time! Her previous record at home had been about 5 minutes. We call her a little prairie dog these days because of the way she perks her head up and looks around...

Her unofficial weight today at 14.5 weeks is 13 pounds even. (I did the ol' weigh myself, then hold her while weighing myself approach). She is really grasping things and it's so cute to see how hard she focuses when trying to reach out and grab onto toys and books. A new favorite toy is her pink bunny from Grandma Debbie...

In case you ever wondered how long it takes for a little one to come down with her first illness after starting day care, we found out it's 3 days. At the end of last week, Katelyn caught her first cold :( It was troubling to see her stuffed up and pretty uncomfortable, but she was a trooper and she's basically back to health now. We kept a close eye on her temperature and the blue bulb (aka boogie sucker) was always close at hand. Despite the cold, she was generally still her happy self (just a little more sleepy and snuggly)...

 

Big, gummy smiles are becoming more and more common and what a joy to see them!! Katelyn loves hanging out with Daddy - she just lights up when she sees him :)

Have a great Memorial Day weekend! 

Week 13 - Updates and Photos Galore

First, I just want to say, I realize I need to get better at doing shorter, more frequent blog posts instead of one lengthy, picture-saturated update every week... but I hope to embrace that approach next time. ;) 

Whew! It sure feels good to have week one of work and daycare under our belts! Thanks to all of you who texted, emailed, called, and sent flowers (Mom and Dad :) to let me know you were thinking of us - it meant a lot and I believe it was all the positive thoughts that carried us through the week. Surprisingly, it went much better than I expected. 

Michael came with me to drop Katelyn off each day and that made all the difference; it helped to make my teary episodes (okay, bawling) shorter and less intense. Katelyn was in great hands at "school" and was happy and content everyday when I picked her up (the new highlight of my day!) Once I got into work mode, I was able to focus better than expected and it was nice to connect with co-workers and get some projects sent my way to fill my days right off the bat. Here's a photo of us from our first day at school and work (the glasses were a strategic move on my part to avoid the blurry, salty contacts!)

Miss Dawn is Katelyn's main teacher and she's great. She said Katelyn really likes observing and taking in all the activity. She also commented about how relaxed and easygoing Katelyn is. Favorite activities include reading books, playing in a bouncy seat, and studying/chewing on her hands. Miss Dawn also gets lots of smiles from her in the morning hours. I usually check in once during the day to see how Katelyn's doing and how much she has eaten. Our morning routine starts around 5:15 (we wake Katelyn at 6 a.m.) and it's a little crazy to remember everything - in fact, on day 2, we left the house without her food - whoops, kinda need that! We'll get the hang of it eventually... I hope!

Here are some photos from the past week - Katelyn is now 13 weeks old. Enjoy!

Family walk! Katelyn loves being in the carrier and started cracking up this week when Michael bounced her up and down.

Great Grandma Ridnour stopped by with Pierces on their way back to Iowa from Northern MN.

Visiting with Great Aunt Ronda and Great Uncle Joel.

"I love you, Mr. Ceiling Fan!"

We got together with our friends Matt and Shelly on Saturday for pizza and beer. Here's Katelyn with them and one of their two sons, Dane (their 1 year old, Erik, was in bed). 

Matt enjoys photography (and you'll see his talent for yourself), so he took a few shots of our new family of 3. Thanks, Matt!!

Katelyn is just one of the girls!! Katie and I met at Beth's new house on Sunday and the four of us enjoyed an outdoor lunch in Edina. (Katelyn is a great lunch companion - she usually naps in her seat, but will sometimes wake up and observe what's going on or squeal for her pacifier.)

Daisy girl matched Beth's new yellow pillow :)

Thanks for reading!

3 Months Old!

Katelyn is 3 months old today! Happy birthday, sweet girl! It's been such an incredible 3 months and we're full of gratitude everyday to be parents to such a wonderful baby who brings so much joy to our lives. As I've said so many times, the growth and development we've seen in Katelyn is almost mind-boggling. For example, compared to previous months, she was able to sit much better in the photos below; there wasn't nearly as much tipping to one side. And you can see she's smiling for the photos this time too!

(Some babies play with their feet... Katelyn prays with hers! She loves putting them together like this :)

Here's what she's up to at 3 months:

~ Katelyn is such a happy baby! She's relaxed, content, and pretty easy to please.

~ Her hair and lips are still the features most people comment on when they see her. 

~ She loves playing on her activity mat and is now really batting at the dangling toys with her hands (and feet too!) She also "claws" at my wedding ring when playing with my hands. Grasping onto hair has become a more common occurrence too (this could mean a shorter mom-do in my future :)

~ Her pacifier is still a favorite. More often than not when she gets fussy, the pacifier will chill her out in seconds flat.

~ Loves smiling at us. Other friendly faces can get smiles out of her too.

~ Last week, she discovered her feet and loves grabbing onto them. This morning she had her toes in her mouth!

~ Eats 6 times a day (generally 6 a.m., 9 a.m., Noon, 3 p.m., 6 p.m. and 8 p.m.)

~ Knock on wood, she sleeps anywhere from 9-11 hours a night without waking up. She also still loves her sound spa with relaxing sounds and a projection image on the ceiling. We put her to bed drowsy and she's usually fast asleep within 15 minutes.

~ She likes to watch the moving images on TV and also moving ceiling fans.

~ She enjoys cooing and "talking." Sometimes it sounds like she says "guy, guy, guy" over and over.

~ She's been drooling a lot more lately and there's usually a blob of bubbles collected on her mouth!

~ She loves stroller rides and being in the fresh air. Many times it puts her to sleep.

At exactly 3 months old, Katelyn starts daycare tomorrow and I head back to work. It's a day I've been nervously anticipating practically since we found out a baby was on the way! It's going to be tough for me to be away from her, but I know she's in good hands and it makes it little easier knowing I'm working part-time. But we would still appreciate your positive thoughts as we both get used to a new weekly routine.

Mother's Day 'n More

We had a wonderful Mother's Day on Sunday - my first official one! Here's what it included: delicious breakfast made by Michael, my fave coffee drink from Caribou, church, spending time with Katelyn and Michael, a family walk, a nap, a sweet Mama's Day card, a gift, and a DQ Blizzard. Perfect! 

Michael and Katelyn were so very generous. They got me a gift from Tiffany's for Mother's Day/Katelyn's birth - it's a sterling silver necklace with a cursive, lower-case "k" on it accented with a few small diamonds. Michael is especially excited about the sentimental value of this gift in that one day I could pass it down to Katelyn. (Unfortunately, the necklace is on backorder, so I don't physically have it but I'll have to post photos when it arrives!) It was a lovely day with perfect weather and I feel so blessed to be a mom to such a happy, healthy, and peaceful baby girl! Here's a photo of us getting ready for our walk.

Katelyn got her first piece of mail this week from her sweet (and only) cousin Jack. Carly said he did this unprompted and all on his own. We have it displayed on the fridge. Check it out - too darn cute!

Today was our last Mom and Baby class at the hospital. I remember at the first class that I still had half of my maternity leave left - I swear the last 6 weeks have literally gone by in the blink of an eye! Some of us went to lunch after class and plan to get together again soon. It was a great experience and I learned a lot from the other moms - I'm very happy we signed up for it.

Katelyn with the class facilitator, Laurie (she also taught the Birth and Parenting class that Michael and I took in December)

All the moms and babies (bottom L-R): me and Katelyn, JJ and Dylan, Alycia and Jackson, Sarah and Sydney. (top L-R): Sara and Owen, Chris and Baur, Kendra and Kendall, Kelly and Evan, Patti and Daniella.

All the babies together - 4 girls and 5 boys. (Katelyn is kinda falling out of the circle - oops!)

Here are some other photos taken this week...

Oh so serious! Katelyn is starting to really grasp on to things that we place in her hands. Here she is with Sophie the giraffe - it's a popular teething toy.

Bath baby!

Happy to be cuddling with Daddy

... and Daddy's happy too! :)

My parents came up for a day visit on Tuesday.

She loves those fists in the air!

Just doin' some dance moves.

Looking a little sheepish showing her bloomers!

Found her feet recently!

11 Weeks Old

Katelyn is now 11 weeks old - wow, the time has gone so fast! With Katelyn getting older and bigger, it also means the end of my maternity leave :( My first day back at work will be Tuesday, May 18. I'm so thankful to my employer that I will be going back to work part-time; knowing that I'll have Mondays and Fridays off to spend with Katelyn certainly makes going back a little easier. 

Katelyn's daycare is located on my way to work, which is convenient but also means that I'll be in charge of drop-off (those first few days will surely involve some tears on my part!) It's been such a joy to be home with her and I'll always cherish the time we've spent together during my leave. Here are some photos of our sweetie taken in her 11th week:

"Ahh, this is the life!"

Michael and I both went to our first Twins game at the new Target Field this week - Monday and Tuesday respectively. I try to take photos throughout the day for Michael to see what we were up to while he's at work, and he returned the favor when I was at the game with friends. Thanks, honey! Here are the two photos he took of their evening together:

Happy girl!! Katelyn was all giggly after our mom and baby class today.

She loves to kick her legs up and hold them in the air. If only I could do that so easily... hello 6-pack abs!

She loves to coo - she'll raise her shoulders up, tilt her head to the side, open her eyes wide and make a long hard "k" sound with a smile. It's too cute!