The Christmas of Over Stimulation, or When Christmas Attacks

This is pretty much how we all felt after Christmas. Even though Kendall is only a few months old, Christmas still took over our lives and left us in the wake, tired and confused.

We spent Christmas Eve with Grandma and Grandpa Gorman (or as Grandpa likes to be called, Grandpa Kahuna). Turkey and all the fixings were served, and I have to say it turned out lovely. Then we got to the presents. Kendall got some awesome new clothes from Gymboree, but if you have ever seen the multi-color box of Gymboree, you will know why she was enthralled by the boxes. She just stared at them, and they kept her entertained as we opened other people's gifts.

Then came the big one. Kendall got the gift she loved the most, the Rain forest Play Gym. Nate held Kendall as I opened the gift in front of her, and I have never seen her instantly light up like that in all her 2 and 1/2 months. She even started leaning towards it and grabbing for it. I have no idea how she knew she liked it, not like she has been out test driving toys.

Then, we set it up, put the batteries in, and turned it on.

(This is post Christmas, but it does capture the pure joy this toy brings)

Now she spends hours playing with it every day. Kicking her legs in the air to hit the toys. Smiling and "singing" and "dancing" along with the songs. Grabbing at the toys. Essentially, Kendall now eats, sleeps, and plays with the play gym.

Nate and I had our first Christmas of putting toys together. It wasn't that bad, but I can only imagine when we get to the Barbie dream house or the bike, things will get a little more complicated.

Christmas morning was not nearly as exciting as Christmas Eve. Santa brought a jumperoo. Although Kendall thought it was pretty cool, it was a little overwhelming. She tried to bounce a little, but her legs don't reach the ground, and she can't reach far enough for the toys. But she did give it a smile and looks relatively pleased in it. She will definitely grow into it.

Everything under the tree Christmas morning was for Kendall (Nate and I opened our gifts after she went to bed the night before). Kendall had quite the haul. And our living room looked like Christmas threw up.

So we gave all the presents to Kendall, and she laid in them like a pile of cash. Turns out the Winkle is pretty cool too, and Kendall now keeps a tight grasp on that all day (it is the crazy looking toy on top of her head in the picture).

After this Christmas morning extravaganza, we went to Grandma and Grandpa Greaney's to spend Christmas with all the Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins. By then, Kendall had a lot of excitement, and was a little beyond pooped, and therefore not her usual happy self. But she still had a lot of fun opening more gifts (an awesome sweater Grandma Greaney made for her, a skull and cross bones sweater from Aunt Lis and Uncle Matt, some awesome onsies and sleepers from Aunt Sarah and Uncle Paul, and a cool walker toy from Aunt Michelle and Uncle Andrew). So much excitement, and a Very Merry First Christmas!

Move minions, MOVE!

Kendall already has minions. Well, she thinks she has minions. Kendall's minions are the dragon flies on the mobile of her swing. The problem is that the minions will not do her bidding.

To clarify what I am talking about. Each morning, I get Kendall up and moving and put her in the swing. While she hangs out, I go about my business cleaning and making bottles, or more likely checking my email, favorite blogs, and celebrity gossip. Kendall has a beautiful top of the line swing that matches the decor in my living room, plugs into the wall, but fails in one major aspect, the mobile does NOT spin on its own. I repeat, mom and dad have to manually turn the mobile.

So, anyway, Kendall chills in her swing and smiles and coos at the mobile. Cute right? Now here is where the minions come into play. The mobile is made up of 3 "characters", a turtle and two dragonflies. After a while, mommy gets sick of spinning said mobile and goes off to do something else. Kendall will continue to coo if Mr. Turtle is in her eye line, but if the dragonfly twins are in her sights her coos start to sound more and more like commands until it may seem like she is crying. I assure you, she is not crying, there are no tears, she is not red in the face, she is literally YELLING at the dragonflies. My assumption is that the dragonflies have wings and should therefore propel the mobile. Mr. Turtle is exempt since, after all, he is a turtle and they do not fly. Those darn dragonfly minions will NOT do her bidding, and she is pissed. This happens everyday in the same way. Happy looks at Mr. Turtle for doing the best job he can, and angry yelling at the dragonflies for slacking off.

I hate to tell her that her minions later in life will listen just about as well as the dragonflies.

Side note - Nate and I want to know why all the detail of said mobile are on the top. Check out the shell on Mr. Turtle as an example. Kendall cannot see the top, and I really don't care what her mobile looks like. Kudos on a plug in swing, fail on mobile. Lack of foresight by Fisher Price.

Has it really been TWO MONTHS?

Kendall is two months old. Where has the time gone? She has gone from a blob of a new born, to a full-fledged baby. She is happy and healthy, growing into a big girl. Here is a comparison of her from last month to this month.
Kendall at 1 month

Weight - 9lbs 9oz

Height - 22 3/4 inches

Sounds like - an angry pterodactyl attacking its prey

Likes - tummy time, her thumb (comes in handy when she looses the pacifier), the pacifier, the swing (this is a brand new like and we love it), Sophie, Dr Squeaks, the magical seahorse, bouncing on the exercise ball with daddy, eating

Dislikes - hiccups, dirty diapers (must be changed IMMEDIATELY or she will unleash her wrath), being put down (but getting better with this one)
Things she can do - eat, poop, spit up, pick up her head and move it around (has some control - see below), grab onto shirts/hands/toys, sleep by herself in her crib (up to 5 hours in a stretch! Like mommy, she likes to sleep), smile

Kendall at 2 months

Weight - 12lbs 7oz
Height - 22 1/2 inches (how did she shrink?)
Sounds like - snorts a lot, coos lovingly, and coos angrily at her mobile (more on that later)
Likes - tummy time, her thumb, the soothie pacifier (and only the soothie pacifier), the swing, Sophie, Dr Squeaks, the magical seahorse, bouncing on the exercise ball with daddy, eating, her feet (one day she noticed them, and now can't stop checking them out), her crib, sitting up and facing out to look around the room, a little alone time to put her mobile minions in their place
Dislikes - hiccups, dirty diapers
Things she can do - eat, poop, spit up, put herself to sleep, follow an object (or person) around the room with her eyes and her head, stand assisted, smile (BIG), stick out her tongue (and lick everything)

Kendall has come a long way from the grumpy baby we brought home from the hospital. She still looks just like her daddy, down to the facial expressions. My favorite part of every day is going into pick her up for the morning. She immediately stops fussing and I get HUGE smiles accompanied by cooing talking to me - telling me what she has been doing or wants to do. Every morning. It is the highlight of my day. Then, when daddy comes home at night, she greets him with a big smile as well. She smiles more every day. Can't wait for the laughter to start.

I love a sleeping baby

Now, I love a screaming pterodactyl probably just about as much as a smaller dinosaur they were about to eat, but what I really love is a sleeping baby. Playtime is all good, but sleeping is my favorite.

Last night, I put Kendall down and she was still awake. This is normally a bad thing and will result in a screaming pterodactyl in about 5 minutes. But last night she laid there in her crib all swaddled up for about 15 minutes quietly. So quietly I kept going to check on her (did she figure out how to dismantle the crib and start choking on the parts?). I probably checked on her 4 times as I went about my business getting bottles ready, picking up the house, and getting myself ready for bed. The first 3 times I found her awake and lookng around, offered her a pacifier and was declined, but that magical 4th time, she was a sleep. Sound asleep. So sound asleep that she slept for 9 hours straight. Yes, my 7 week old slept from 10 last night until 7:15 this morning. No middle of the night feeding or diaper change. Just 9 hours of sound sleep.

This long stint of sleeping was not without worry from the parents. I woke up as Nate was getting ready for work at 5 and freaked out that maybe I forgot to turn on the monitor (again). No, it was on. And Nate being the good dad that he is had already gone in to check on her and make sure she was breathing (he knew that would be the first question I would ask). When I was assured by Nate she was breathing I did what any mother would do, I turned over and went back to sleep. It was fantastic.

To put the icing on the cake of this wonderful night, when I went to pick up Kendall in the morning I was greeted with a HUGE smile and a happy coo. I was never a morning person, but for that I would get up without coffee and take the CPA exam. Nothing like a huge baby smile after a good night's sleep to melt your heart.

As I type, Kendall is back down for a nap (see picture above, asleep in her swing). This kid can sleep, and I am thanking my lucky stars. Now, I know this can change in a moment and tomrrow she can decide sleep is for sucks and we are going to party all night, but for now I am living in my dream of a happy sleeping baby.

One Month and a few days

So Kendall reached the milestone of one month old this past week. Been a fun filled month of learning for all of us. Let's talk stats, then and now.

Kendall at birth
Weight - 7lbs 15oz
Height - 20 1/2 inches
Sounds like - a cute baby seal
Likes - Stared at us blankly and pretty much was indifferent to everything, tummy time
Dislikes - being put down, the swing, the bouncer, her crib, anyone other than her getting sleep, hiccups

Things she can do - stare blankly at us, eat, poop, spit up, pick head up

Kendall at 1 month

Weight - 9lbs 9oz

Height - 22 3/4 inches

Sounds like - an angry pterodactyl attacking its prey

Likes - tummy time, her thumb (comes in handy when she looses the pacifier), the pacifier, the swing (this is a brand new like and we love it), Sophie, Dr Squeaks, the magical seahorse, bouncing on the exercise ball with daddy, eating

Dislikes - hiccups, dirty diapers (must be changed IMMEDIATELY or she will unleash her wrath), being put down (but getting better with this one)

Things she can do - eat, poop, spit up, pick up her head and move it around (has some control - see below), grab onto shirts/hands/toys, sleep by herself in her crib (up to 5 hours in a stretch! Like mommy, she likes to sleep), smile

Kendall is not only bigger after a month, she is really doing a lot more. Those first weeks were rough, but now we are getting the hang of things a bit and it is getting to be more fun for all of us. Here are some highlights from the last week.

Here is Kendall enjoying some bouncer time with Sophie. This is the first time Kendall actually enjoyed the bouncer. She put herself to sleep in there - WIN!

Here Kendall is showing off her ability to hold her head up like a big girl and look around the room. She may look a little drunk, but she is looking around on her own with no help from mom and dad. She especially likes to stare at the lights in the kitchen and the pictures on the wall behind the couch. She also has impressive hand coordination that allows her to put her own pacifier back in her mouth and/or hold it in, some of the time.

Here are some examples of tummy time. Most of the time we like Mr. Sun, but sometimes he makes Kendall angry and she goes all crazy on him. Kendall has mommy's temper - going to make for some entertaining teen years. Tummy time is a good time, she is happy and content doing push-ups, lifting her head, and getting ready to unleash the fury on Mr. Sun.


Finally, for those who are wondering what an angry pterodactyl baby looks like, I give you exhibit A. Just imagine a screeching sound emanating from this little bundle of joy.

But we like to see her more like this, happy and content. This is what she looks like happily staring at mommy after a fine bottle of white.

Until next time...

Victory!!

Took 3 weeks, but Kendall is now sleeping in the pack-n-play, not on one of us. And even more exciting, is napping in her crib as I type this. The small victories are what make me happy these days.

Although it is not like I am not checking on her every 5 min. The baby monitor is strangely silent - is she sleeping? Or is it not picking up her cries? Yeah, she is sleeping and I am a crazy new mother.

Happy Halloween!!

This was a big week of firsts for Kendall. She had her first bath (and then promptly got dirty again). She slept in the the pack-n-play for at a whole 3 hours instead of on one of us. She started to focus on objects like her mobile. And she had her first Halloween.

Mom dropped the ball on the burrito outfit, but she did dress in her fancy Halloween onsie and ended up looking like a pumpkin. We bundled up and went out trick-or-treating with cousin Sophia. Since it was so cold here, Kendall did not see the light of day bundled up in her car seat and stroller. Here are some pictures from Kendall's first Halloween - we hope you had a much fun as she did.