Dress Up

Baikal has so many cute clothes! It is great fun to dress her in the morning.



Even in only socks she is cute!



Bunny slippers are always a hit.



So are great hats.



She may start out matching, but by the end of the day I wouldn't count on it. Baikal's clothes are often subjected to drool, spit up, and other unpleasant messes. We are averaging three outfits a day. The upside is that no clothes go unworn. The downside is that she is growing out of her newborn to 3 month clothes.

Playing around

Here is Baikal after her bath. We are still not using shampoo, since her scalp is so dry.







Baikal can really lift her head up now! She is getting better at rolling over from her back to her front, but hasn't mastered rolling from her front to her back. Hopefully she will eventually become an ambi-turner!

Pictures from the park

Here are some pictures from a recent Grant park picnic. It is so nice to live close to a park!


Here is Paul checking out Baikal's footwear.


Baikal relaxing on a blanket.

Spring Break

We were lucky to have a visit from the Rybolt family. My cousin Karen chose to come to Atlanta for a few days for her spring break.


Karen's mom, Aunt Ann, came down to drop her off. She had a great time visiting with Baikal.


Karen's sister, cousin Leah, stopped by on her way to visit a friend. It was great to see her.



Karen enjoyed spending time with Baikal.



She also enjoyed our trip to the aquarium and to IKEA. Baikal and I enjoyed them also!

St. Patrick Day

Today is St. Patrick day, and believe it or not, Baikal and I will not be spending all day at the local Irish pub drinking Guinness. Instead, I think we will just hang around the house and look for leprechauns.

No blog?

I am not sure why, but my blog is was temporarily unavailable for a few days. If you encounter the message "you do not have credentials" or "temporarily unavailable" it is not personal.

Here are some pictures of B in her sleep sack. She moves around too much in the crib to be swaddled or have a blanket.

Walk in the park

This weekend Baikal, Bill Rencher (Baikal's godfather and my cousin), and I enjoyed a walk in Piedmont Park. Bill volunteers at the park by giving tours about the park's history. It was great to have our own personal tour and get some exercise at the same time!








Some of you have been asking how Baikal's feeding and sleeping schedules are going, so here you go. She is successfully on a 4 hour feeding schedule. I am flexible in that I try to feed her at "in between" times. For example, her first feeding should be in between 7 and 8 AM. If she wakes up around 6:30, I give her a pacifier and do other things to hold her off until 7. If she is still sleeping at 7:50, I turn on the lights and music to get her up to start her day. She can eat at anytime during that hour. The same goes for 11 to 12, 3 to 4, and then again at 7 to 8 PM. So we are down to four day feedings! Yeah! I am going to give this another full week before I try to drop a night feeding.

Pierre

Baikal loves to smile and talk to her two pals, a blue monkey on her activity gym that I've named Pierre and a blue bird on her bouncy seat.





More pictures of Baikal on her activity mat. Notice she is wearing a bib to catch all of her drool. Sometimes she can make a full drool goatee. Impressive.

2 Months and counting!

Baikal had her two month appointment a bit ago, and I forgot to report it. She is weighing in at 10 pounds, 6 ounces. She also received her first round of shots and was a bit cranky that night.

List for new moms weeks 3-10

Here is my list for items that were helpful from weeks 3-10. Look in the January postings for my list for birth-2 weeks. Baikal seemed to develop more motor skills and a longer attention span after week 6, so I separated the lists because I noticed a dramatic difference in her ability to tolerate and enjoy new items. Swaddling was no longer of interest to her either after week 6, so she needed more clothing on when sleeping and being carried around. Most of these items you will only use for a short period of time, so buy used when you can!

Weeks 3-6
Bouncy seat-there are a lot out there, but I really like the bouncy seat by carter's called cradle and soothe. Pros: it can be carried and can recline fully to make for easier bottle feeding.

Bibs-get the 10 pack terry cloth ones. Put them on when feeding baby from bottle or breast to catch spillage. Also great to put on when baby is excessively drooling or spitting up.

Mylecon drops-help relieve stomach gas when you just can't get a burp out of baby.

Onesies-after belly button falls off, these are what baby wears. It is nice to have some long sleeved ones for colder days.

Pacifiers-there is a lot of debate about them, and Baikal didn't take one for about a month. There are way too many to choose from, so I don't have much advice on any particular brand. They have been useful though.

Sheet savers-once baby moves into the crib and out of swaddling, these really help reduce the times you have to wash the sheets!

Front carrier- I have used my baby bjorn almost every day since given the OK by my doctor. I opted for the "active bjorn" because it had longer straps for Matt and had better back support. It has been great.

Snap and go stroller- I wasn't interested in the full travel systems, so I got this frame stroller. I have been very happy with it. Pros- since it works with all infant car seats, I have been able to use it with other babies and it will be easier to resell. Also, it is a good bit cheaper than buying a whole travel system.

Weeks 7-10
Activity mat-any will do.

Swing- I really like the nature's touch baby papasan swing. Pros: it can fully recline and is made for an infant.

Socks, Pants and Coat-put these on baby when it gets cold. Any will do.

Sleeping sac or gown-I have used both. Once Baikal started to get out of her swaddle at night, I switched over to these. The sleeping sacs are easier, but more expensive. Gowns are hard to get on, but provide a quick access for night diaper changing. Tip: I cut the elastic off the bottom of the gowns to make them easier to put on. Once they are not needed as gowns, cut them into t-shirts. The footed sleepers can also be great. Especially for taking baby around in the car seat! However, I find that they make for more difficult night changing because of all of the snaps. It has been important to me to make night changing as quick as possible, so that baby and I can get back to snoozing!