All I want for Christmas

OOOOh. What's in my stocking?!!

It's a Shoe!

Hey, there's a door there!

Helen loves to play in the door frame of her bedroom. I'm not sure why but it has fascinate her since we set her up a little play area in our square room or hall as Carson likes to call it. Friday I guess she realized there was actually a door in the door frame and that it wasn't moving for her. The video is short because she stopped turning her face and smushing it against the door by the time I found my camera. Just imagine her doing that over and over for1 minute or so.

Chooooo Choooooo

Tom and Angela bought Helen's Christmas present while they were here so we wouldn't have to bring it back with us. It is a wonderful train with many things to do that she will be able to love for many years. But, at this point, the box is more exciting than the actual train.

Off To Grandma's

This past week Tom and Angela were here visiting. Helen had a great time and is going to miss having grandma and grandpa here to play with her. Now it's back to 'ol boring mommy and daddy but she'll cope with it, we go to Oklahoma in 3 weeks. This morning, after she had packed, Angela told us she was ready to go. I looked at her carry on and there was my daughter trying to read the National Enquirer!

Eating With Daddy

Last night Carson fed Helen. He isn't able to do it very often but both of them always have a great time when he does. I don't know how he gets her face so dirty, it never gets that dirty when I feed her...

I Love Those Lights

This past weekend Helen became and international traveler when we went to Montreal. She was just wonderful. It was a long drive. She is one of the few babies I know who does not fall asleep in the car (at least not very often). Our hotel room was on the eighth floor. The only downside to that was we learned that Helen is not always fond of elevators. There were a couple of times that when the doors shut she yelled and when they opened she stopped. Maybe she is a claustrophobic. Helen loved to walk around downtown and look at all the people and listen to the cars. She smiled at everyone. Her favorite activity was sitting in the windowsill of our hotel room and looking down at the car lights. She sat there forever just watching the cars go by. It was nice. It would have been nicer if we would have had her highchair so I did not have to stand there and hold her. There were a few times she even hit her head on the glass trying to look down at everything:)

A Busy Day

Helen is getting very good at scooting around. Her only problem is that she tries to go forward and ends up going backwards. But, she gets where she is going and that's the important thing. This evening I had all the doors closed and she was in her little play area while I was loading the dishwasher. I heard a noise and turned around to see her pushing her bedroom door open! She's a sneaky one. However, the best moment today was when she scooted herself under one of our living room chairs.

Sleeping

We have been working with Helen to get her to fall asleep on her own. Some times go better than others and the night always goes better than nap time. However, one can always tell if she has put herself to sleep in her crib of been put down asleep by her position. In the first picture she put herself to sleep, in the second she was asleep when she was laid down.

The Window

Yesterday Helen was laying on the floor in the living room and kept trying to see out of the window. Being the super genius of a mom that I am I decided to bring her high chair in so she could see out the window. She sat in it for 30 minutes just looking outside.

In A Box

This afternoon Helen was a bit cranky. I told her that if she didn't settle down I was going to put her in the box I saw on the living room floor. Apparently she did not believe me because she did not settle down. I put her in the box and she had the time of her life in there for about 20 minutes! I don't understand it, I have created a wonderful play area with a colorful puzzle mat and all her favorite toys and she likes being in a little box.

Singing A Song

Helen has started making this new noise. It's rather sing songy. Please excuse the odd facial expressions I made. I tried to cut them all out but inorder to do so there would have been nothing left of the video.

Your Never To Young For A Diet Coke

Early Reader

Today Helen and I were laying on our backs on the floor reading Big Red Barn when Helen decided she was perfectly capable of reading it on her own.

It's So Tastey Too!

Mmm a toe!

The frog is her favorite.

Bunny Ears!

Helen has reached the stage where any and everything goes into her mouth. I have to make sure the floor is vacuumed. She wants to eat my food, today I was eating a PB and J and she was obsessed with it. After I had the last bit she kept looking for it.

Nearly Bald Baby Sticking Her Tongue Out

Every Girl Needs A Frilly Dress

Frilly dress are bueatiful however it is very difficult to get in a carseat in one.

That's what's funny!

What's so funny?

No Swaddle

Tonight is the first night we are trying Helen without the swaddle blanket. It went well for about an hour but she is crying now. I started this post to soon but I have a cute picture of her sleeping without her swaddle blanket. However, she is now swaddled. But I would say an hour for her first night unswaddled was a great success for her.

Home Again.

Our month in Oklahoma was wonderful. Helen enjoyed getting to met everyone and I am quite sure everyone loved meeting her. Sorry for the lack of postings but I figured most everyone who reads this blog (minus Brian and Alisha) we were seeing so posting just be silly.

Helen is doing well. She had no trouble adjusting to being home. She is growing fast. Last night she reached for the rattle Carson was holding up for her. That was exciting! Her legs aren't moving as much because she is working so hard at getting her arms to work properly.

I would normally have a picture (in fact this is the first post without one I believe) but it seems my camera won't connect to my computer and I can't get the pictures off of it. We have ordered a new cable and are hoping that solves the problem...

The Stregnth of the Pencil Neck

Helen has a very thin neck (and amazingly a massive double chin). For having such a thin neck and being only 2 months old I feel that she has amazing strength. She held her head up for one minute in this video with only a few bobbles. I must say however that there are times when she has a tremendous bobble head.

She had her 2 month well baby visit on Wednesday and is doing great. The shots didn't bother her much at all, she yelled as they gave them to her but other than a sore injection site she was great. Here is her current status

Weight: 9 lbs 4 oz (15th percentil

Length: 21 inches(10th percentile)

Head circumference: 27 cm (10th percentile)

And she is not developing the flat head as I had feared.

A Private Conversation

This is Kitty, Helen's best friend. Kitty hangs down on the arch that goes over Helen's tummy time mat. Helen spends a lot of time on her back on her tummy time mat because every time I put her on her tummy she rolls over to her back. Yesterday Helen was laying on her back having a conversation with Kitty. I joined in and asked what was going on and Helen started whining and making sad noises. I stopped talking and she looked at Kitty and started talking to her again. Apparently it was a private conversation.

A Good Night's Rest

Last night was Helen's first night to sleep all the way through. I am very proud of her. For the last week she had only been getting up once at 5ish. But last night she ate her last bottle at around 9:30 and was in bed around 11:30. She did not wake up until 7:00!! I, of course, was worried sick that she hadn't woken up and I woke up around 5 to check on her. After that I had trouble sleeping because I kept looking over at her to make sure she was still breathing. I am hoping this was not a one time thing and that she starts sleeping though the night on a regular basis.

She has also changed her eating habits. She now eats about 6 ounces every 5-6 hours. It is rather nice because that means there aren't as many feedings but at the same time I do miss the feeding times.

I can't believe how fast she is growing up.

I am so pretty!

Old Man Pants

Yesterday I dressed Helen in her Love Bug t-shirt and flowery pants. The pants are a little large and have to be rolled up in order to stay on her very well and the shirt has a tendency to end up close to her neck when you are holding her. In the afternoon Carson offered to watch Helen and let me have a nap. I guess Carson finally had enough of the pants and shirt because when I woke up he had her shirt tucked into her pants and her pants pulled up as far as they would go.

Helen Updates

Helen is now a wopping 21.5 inches long and her head is 34 cm. Unfortunately I do not know

her weight and will not know until the 24th when we go to the doctor. She is rolling over much quicker now and refuses to stay on her stomach. I tell her she needs to stay on her stomach so she can learn to crawl but thus far she does not seem to care. She is defiantly a morning person. She wakes up around 5:30 and is ready for the day. She stays awake and alert for several hours and then takes a short cat nap and is ready again for some play. Throughout the afternoon she takes little cat naps as well, she never really has a hard sleep during the day which i suppose is nice because she probably won't sleep much at night if she did but at the same time it makes life more difficult for me because i can't get anything done (she still doesn't like to sleep unless she is held, only at night when we swaddle her does she sleep for more than 20 minutes if not held). She is getting great at following things with her eyes, she can go side to side and occasionally up and down. She loves her gas medicine we call it her vitameatavegamine because it's "so tasty too, just like candy."She loves music and so far we have only found one CD that she doesn't seem to care for, Simon and Garfunkel. Even Lenny Kravitz's "American Women" has calmed her down. She outgrown the preemie clothes and is now in regular newborn and 0-3 months clothes although the 0-3 months are usually to big. We go on a walk everyday down our street, we walk to the dead end and back 3 times (a little over a mile).

I feel I must have a picture with every post so here is Helen enjoying her favorite book "Strawberries are Red"

I Can Roll Over!

A Little Belch

That's Talent

Not only is Helen able to lay on her stomach she is able to stick her tongue out while doing it!

All Swaddled Up

As I've said before Helen loves to be swaddled up at night. In fact, it is the only way we can get her to sleep in her drawer. Sometimes an arm creeps out and wakes her up if we don't swaddle her tight enough. She is not the only one in the family who enjoys being swaddled

If you can't tell this is Carson.

Sleeping in the box

Last night was the first night Helen slept in her drawer without being swaddled. It only lasted about 2 hours but I was proud of her.I went in the check on her about half way through and this is how I found her

Hanging Around

Helen enjoys having her head hanging off my legs. I try to get her to lift it up and she pushes it back down. I'm concerned about the blood rushing to her head, but if she is crying and I let her hang upside down she usually stops. However, I think it would be hard to cry upside down...

The One Eye

First Bath

Sunday night Helen had her first bath. She did an excellent job. There was very little crying until

the hair washing.

Carson carefully dumped water on her hair not getting any on her face.

After that there was no stopping the crying. She hated every moment.

I was impressed with her though, I was afraid she would wiggle and squirm the whole time (she does that most of the day) but there is a little net slingy thing for newborns in our little baby bathtub and I think she liked laying in it.

Having Fun

Fun Times

Today Helen played on her little play mat. It is a pretty fun looking thing if you ask me. She's a little small and unable to actually play with any of the toys on it but she still looked like she was having a good time. Once her umbilical cord falls off (should be any day now) she will get to lay on her tummy on it and have a grand old time. I think she'll enjoy laying on her stomach. She'll be able to move her head any which was she wants. She's a mover and a shaker.

First Sponge Bath

Yesterday I have Helen her first sponge bath. She wasn't to happy about it, though you couldn't tell from this picture. She cried most of the time and was shivering. We had the space heater close so she should feel the heat but it did not seem to help. I tried to stick her hair straight up for the photo but she just didn't have enough.

Sleeping in a Drawer

Helen has been having difficulties sleeping in her crib. We aren't sure why. She did very well at first, in fact it wasn't until Friday night that she started having trouble, she wanted to be held all night. we would put her in her crib and she'd sleep there for about 5 minutes and then start fussing. Last night we decided something had to be done so we tried a drawer. She loves the drawer. She'll sleep in it for hours. I don't understand it, but I'm thankful for the drawer.

First Doctor's Visit

Wednesday night Helen had her first doctor's visit. The nurse practitioner came to our house around 7:00. I think it is very nice that they do the first appointment at your house if you want them to. Helen is doing great. She has gained weight, she now weights 6 lbs 4 oz., she is still 19 inches long, but her head is growing when we left the hospital it's circumfrance was 33 cm and now it is 34! We are quite proud of her growth.