Erin weighs...

...about 10 pounds! Yesterday, we took her up to her grandma's work (NICU) where they have a baby scale, and at 5 weeks and 1 day old, she weighed 10 lbs., 3.5 oz. with her clothes on. All that eating is paying off!

She's having fun visiting her Ambrosini family and enjoyed her first Thanksgiving, even though she slept through the meal. Her mommy and daddy appreciated that!

1 Month Old!

Today is Erin is 1 month old! To me (Bob), it sure doesn't seem like a month ago, at this time, we were getting ready to head to the OB office for Gina to get checked, but we were!

As Gina has posted, Erin has good nights and not so good nights, but I think we're all getting a bit more sleep, as the general attitude around the house has been improving.

Grandma and Grandpa F. will be here this afternoon to visit with us - we're looking forward to seeing them!

And, for the obligatory blog-post-picture, here's Erin this morning hanging out on her favorite blanket (that Aunt Pam made!):

One other item of note - I've created a new web album @ Picasa for the pictures during the first month: Erin - 1 Month.

P.S. From Gina: Bob has been a very good sport about my lack of sleep (and resulting crankiness)...and if anyone has sleep tricks that would work on a 4 week old, let us know! She falls asleep great but wakes up as soon as we put her down. She still doesn't like the pacifier - now she likes to gag if we put it in her mouth. Very dramatic.

Week 4

Well, we don't have much new to report...Erin is doing great! Some nights are better than others, but that's fine with us. Last evening, she didn't cry much at all (she definitely still cried, but not for hours!) and she played for a long time on the floor and in her bouncy seat. Sometimes she likes tummy time, but sometimes not so much. She can hold her head up for a few seconds when laying on her tummy. She is much more alert and loves to look around at us and whatever is near her. And last night, I got TWO stretches of 2-1/2 hours of sleep, plus a couple of short naps. No complaints here!

She has started to spit up more, and we had to have an emergency bath this morning because of it. She was not happy about that. We measured her last night and she is somewhere between 21-1/2" and 22" long (she was 20" when she was born). Bob also tried to weigh her on Saturday with our bathroom scale and estimated her around 9 pounds. It's hard to think that on Sunday she will be a month old already! She's got a busy week next week with Grandma and Grandpa F. visiting, Daddy off work, and Thanksgiving. Then she is spending a week in Concord with Mommy and Grandma and Grandpa A., then Christmas coming up not long after that!

Here is a picture of how hard her life is, laying around on pillows:

Sleep News!

Well, last night was a huge breakthrough in the Callaway house. Erin slept in her crib! Prior to last night, she would sleep in the pack and play in the living room and I would sleep on the couch next to her. We do have a bassinet in our room, but she didn't like it and we didn't like her being so noisy in it. So I got to get reacquainted with our bed too.

So anyway, she ate around 10:15, slept, ate at 2:15, slept, ate at 5:30, slept, and ate at 8:15! It was heaven. Hopefully I didn't jinx it by telling everyone.

And Bob thinks she is crawling already - she "crawled" up his stomach this morning during tummy time. I, however, am skeptical.

Fussy and Crib

Whenever I heard the word "fussy" before now, I imagined a cute little baby squirming around a little bit and maybe whining every few minutes or so. I think I had the meaning of the word wrong! Erin's version of fussy is screaming at the top of her little lungs for an hour at a time every evening between feedings. It is so hard to hear her cry, but we are doing everything we can think of to make it better. We walk with her, sing, talk, rock, rotate her in the bouncy seat, swing, and Bjorn, try to burp her again, change her diaper, give her a bath, and anything else we can think of. We have not taken her in the car yet, but I think that is the next step. Tonight I am going to try to feed her more often than every 2 hours in case that is the problem. My book says this is normal and it usually peaks around 6 weeks...3 weeks to go, eek! She is definitely more vocal and alert now!

We tried to go on a walk this afternoon, which she has decided not to like this week. Afterwards, I took her up to her room and rocked her with the radio on. Then I wanted to try her in the crib. 30 minutes later (and past the 2 hour feeding mark), she is still passed out. Maybe the crib is magic!

Week 3 Update

It's been a busy week for Erin... let's see. She's been eating all the time, sleeping pretty good, and starting to look around a lot more. Gina and I both think her eyes are starting to turn from the slate blue color that they were at birth to a brownish color (just like her Mom & big furry sister).

And today, she finally cut the cord (stump)! Now all you see when you look at her belly is a big ol' gut (after all the eating she's doing)!

I'm back at work now, and Gina's adjusting to the mostly sleepless life of a new mommy.

We've also learned that she likes us to walk her in circles and sing to her, so we're being stretched to remember the lyrics to many different songs (she doesn't seem to like you to sing the same song more than once).

Erin's First Trip

Today, we went to Concord for the day so Erin could meet her great Gramma and Grandad Ambrosini. She had a busy day with them, her Grandma and Grandpa, Uncle Chris, Logan, Uncle Dale, and (almost) Aunt Maria. She was good at first, but wanted to cry after lunch. She did great in the car, sleeping both ways. Bella had to share the back seat with her, but she managed. We posted pictures on the picasa site!

2 weeks!

Wow, has it been 2 weeks already? It has both flown by and dragged on forever, if that makes any sense. Probably part of it dragging is because I have been awake for most of it! Today was Bob's first day back at work and I took Erin for her 2 week checkup. She has gained.......are you ready......one whole pound since leaving the hospital! Today she was 8 lbs. 1 oz., so she's definitely passed her birth weight, which is what they check for at 2 weeks. She's also grown 1" in length and 1/2" in head circumference. So far, she is the opposite of me - tall (70th percentile), small head (30th percentile), and average weight (50th percentile)! Maybe she's got more Callaway traits than Ambrosini. Anyway, everything checked out good, and we are good to go until her 2 month appointment which will involve shots. We met Dr. Steele today and I was most impressed with him. He took a long time to check her over and talk to me.

We also stopped by the grocery store on the way home and took a walk with Bella this afternoon. I felt like a Mommy pro...or at least on the way to becoming one!

Otherwise, things are going pretty well. She is starting to sleep a little better by herself, an hour or so at a time. At least that's something. I am not good at taking daytime naps, so I'm just trying to rest and sleep when I can. Maybe I'll get used to it soon! We'll post 2 week pictures when Bob gets home.

Update

We're still here and still doing pretty well. Erin's Grandma A. came up Sunday afternoon and stayed until Monday afternoon. Erin was very good for Grandma and it was so nice to have her help out with the evening shift!

Erin had a bath today and it knocked her out for 4 hours afterwards. That was nice, and good to know for the future...maybe it will help her sleep!

Otherwise, not much else is new. We are doing the best we can with sleeping, but I am not getting too much. She was wound up last night, but hopefully tonight will be better. I am worried about being on my own when Bob goes back to work on Thursday, but hopefully we will be all right. Somehow it never dawned on me that breastfeeding meant I would be getting up with her around the clock! We think she is having a growth spurt because she has been eating more often in the past couple of days.

Bella had her yearly vet appointment today and passed with flying colors. They even talked Bob out of teeth cleaning, which was a change from what they normally do!

Visit from Logan

Erin's cousin Logan came all the way up to Holly Springs to see her today with his mom, dad, and grandma. Erin showed off all her tricks, except she didn't want to scare them with her full volume of screaming. We had so much fun seeing them! Also notice she's sporting the overalls I made her. I took them off after they left to avoid any staining...she's been having some "blowouts" lately, and it would break my heart if I went to all that work only to have her wear then once!

From Erin Michelle Callaway

From Erin Michelle Callaway