Christmas, Indiana, and Cold

Erin had a great Christmas and got to see ALL her family - including meeting Uncle Tom and Aunt Pam from Boston for the first time! Of course, it was a busy time, but lots of fun too. She enjoyed watching Mommy and Daddy open her presents and loved her presents. She has even started playing with them...and so have Mommy and Daddy! Here are some pictures from Christmas in Concord.

Her first trip to Indiana went well, we think...she was a big hit, and we had lots of fun seeing everyone there. My aunts had a shower for me and her which was a lot of fun. We didn't really see any snow, but that was probably for the best for our travels!

Bella had a much-deserved vacation at the kennel and came back with nicely healed surgical sites - no more cone! We enjoyed our vacation from her as well (it had been a trying 10 days with her and that cone), but of course were so happy to see her last night.

So the only bad thing out of our Christmas holiday has been a cold...I got it first, then Bob and Erin got it. We don't get many colds, and boy are they not fun! I do not know how parents of chronically ill kids can take it - she's been sick for about 2 days and my heart is just broken! Hopefully she will get to feeling better soon. She has slept a lot today, so we are hoping that helps her feel better (without compromising her night time sleep, of course!). I stopped at Target and got her a humidifier tonight, so hopefully that will help also.

Finally, and most importantly, we have a new web album for her now that she's 2 months old: http://picasaweb.google.com/bob.callaway/ErinMichelle2Months Enjoy!

Update from Indiana

We all made it to Indiana today, despite the cold and frozen conditions in the midwest. Erin took her first plane ride today (two actually) and did pretty well - only some crying right before takeoff of the first flight to Cincinnati, and during the descent into Ft. Wayne. Gina's grandma had an infant scale, and we weighed Erin - 12 pounds! She's already enjoyed meeting her great-grandparents, and her first cousin (once removed) Jimmy and his kids (including their 3 month old Carson, who just stared and smiled at her).

We hope you had a good Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

We hope you all have a wonderful Christmas! We feel so fortunate to have the best gift in the world - a new baby. Erin is celebrating Christmas in Concord and then taking her first plane trip to Fort Wayne to see everyone up there...it shall be an adventure.

Oh, and the long sleep stretch did not repeat itself last night, but we are hopeful for tonight and for the future!

Early Christmas Present from Erin!

Erin gave her Mom an early Christmas present - she slept last night from 9:30 until 4:30! 7 whole hours - and it was in the crib! If you add the bath, and trying to get her to sleep, it was 8 hours between feedings. Gina feels very refreshed this morning, as you might expect. We don't expect it every night (yet), but it sure is nice when it happens!

Bella also slept through the night last night, for all of you who are interested. She's become much more adept at life in the cone, walking, sniffing, and sleeping.

8 Weeks!

Wow, Erin is 8 weeks old today! It is really starting to fly by for me, and I know Bob would say the same thing. She seems to be doing great - she definitely is getting plenty to eat (judging by what's leftover in her diaper!), and her sleeping is coming along. Most nights for the past week or so, she has slept in her crib. Some nights are easier than others, and we still resort to the bouncy seat at times, like last night. Naps are about 50/50 with the crib or pack and play vs. the bouncy seat or being held. So while I still get discouraged, I think we are making progress.

We know you are all worried about Bella, and we are happy to report that she slept with the cone last night. Breakthrough! She also is walking much better and will lay down on her own. Plus she acts completely normal when we take it off for meals. So we think she is doing fine!

Irony

Isn't it ironic that the first night Erin slept 4 hours straight (yay!) that we were up halfway through with Bella? Poor Bob was up most of the night with her...she does NOT like the cone collar thing. We have been practicing this morning, and she will walk and sit with it on (with biscuit bribes), so we are working on laying down...laying down is very important for Bella : )

The saddest thing you'll ever see

Bella made it through her surgery today - she's at home recovering now, but is definitely droopier than normal. She's got a decent incision on her leg from where they removed the mass, and then another smaller one on her back. She refused to walk out of the vet - I had to carry her to the truck, where she collapsed in the seat and was passed out the whole way home.

Our furry baby

Please keep Bella in your thoughts and prayers tomorrow as she is having surgery. It's not a major thing - just removing 2 lumps that have been growing, one on her back and one on the front of her leg. She will have to wear one of those ugly cone-shaped collars, how embarrassing! Hopefully she will be back to taking walks and babysitting Erin in no time.

Portrait

Erin had her picture taken today at JC Penney at North Hills, and I must say I was very impressed with them. They did a great job and even took us early since we got there early, which turned out to be a blessing to finish up before she got hungry. We don't have proofs online to show off, but let me just say they are beautiful! Plus, I got them for about 1/3 their regular price, thanks to a coupon I had (score!). We couldn't get her to smile, but they are still really good - not that I am biased or anything : )

See the post below for a picture of her smiling...she still doesn't do it very often and you have to catch her at just the right time, but it's awfully cute!

In other news, we continue to struggle with her sleeping. She has good nights and bad nights, but the bad nights are really rough and discouraging. Plus, I can only get her to sleep during the day if I hold her, or she MAY sleep in the bouncy seat with it vibrating (but not always). I may have to take a break from reading the sleep book because it is just making me more depressed to read what she "should" be doing by now. Oh well, we can just hope she comes around soon. She is still pretty fussy in the evenings too, even though we are a week past the magic 6-week mark where it is supposed to get better. It has got to get better at some point...right?

Week 7!

As close as we have come to getting a smile on camera (see more here: http://picasaweb.google.com/bob.callaway/Erin1Month):



Well, Erin will be 7 weeks old tomorrow! We don't have much new to report. She continues to be more alert every day and already seems to have favorite toys and books (of those we have tried, anyway). I took her and Bella to the vet yesterday and put Erin, in the car seat, on the scale. After researching the weight of the car seat, we estimated her weight to be about 10 lbs., 9 oz. She definitely feels heavier!

Let's see, what else...she likes baths much more now than she used to, so that's something fun we can do. She does look at the Christmas tree, but isn't as interested in it as I thought she would be. Her sleeping is better - now she usually sleeps between feedings at night, which are about 2-3 hours apart. She tends to go to bed around 10pm or 11pm, sleep until 1am or 2am, eat and sleep until 4am or 5am, and eat and sleep again until 7am. Some nights are better than others, but that seems to be the trend. I'll take it for now, but longer stretches of sleep will be nice too!

We have had a busy week so far - doctor's appointment on Monday, vet yesterday, a little Christmas shopping today, she is getting her picture taken tomorrow, and maybe going to meet Bob's work friends on Friday. Whew! We'll post pictures soon!

Cheese!

I *think* Erin smiled at me today! It happened twice, right after I fed her. Her whole face got into it and her mouth was open wide. However, we can't get her to do it again. So maybe it was a coincidence, but we are going to keep trying. We'll get a picture as soon as we can!

6 weeks!

Well, we made it to 6 weeks...I have a completely new respect for parents! Erin is still pretty fussy, and the only thing that always calms her down is holding her and walking up and down the stairs. That's good for my baby fat, but bad for my already low energy level! She has not been sleeping as well as night the past several days for some reason - it's like she is sleeping really lightly and wakes up as soon as we try to put her down, or even if we try to move. I am hoping this phase goes by really quickly! She is eating about every 2-3 hours, but will occasionally go about 4 hours at night on a good night, so we live for those nights. I don't know how some moms go back to work at 6 weeks, because I still feel like a zombie. I keep saying that the crying doesn't bother me - it's the lack of sleep that is so bad!

Here's a picture of our pretty girl who makes it all worth it: