Thursday, February 28, 2008

First outing with just me and Gloria

I'm off to see my doctor and bringing Gloria with. It's the first time that I've ever attempted to take her anywhere by myself. I feel pretty confident - as long as she eats a bit before we go. Another first - I gave her a bath all by myself today too! Usually Rob and I do it together or he does it by himself or I do it with my mom. Not today! She was dirty and we had fun.

This morning we were playing on the play mat and she was "talking" up a storm with me. It really seemed like we were having a conversation. It was cute. I would've liked to had the video camera within arm's reach, but it was in the kitchen and I was not about to disrupt our conversation.

Okay, time to get ready for this "trip." Wish us luck!

Sunday, February 24, 2008

Officially the "First Smile" Day

There's no mistaking it! Gloria can smile! Check out her many smiles caught in a few minutes while sitting in her bouncy chair. I'm putting the "first smile" sticker on her baby calendar today! What a cutie!







Saturday, February 23, 2008

Saturday morning

Here's Gloria getting ready for her outing on Thursday to Meijer and Target. Isn't she just the cutest thing ever?


And some cute pictures of Gloria and her mommy (me!) from Thursday night.


Here's Gloria sitting with Daddy on Thursday night. She's been working on her neck and back muscles. They're getting much stronger. She's picking her head up while being burped and during tummy time. Rob thinks she'll be standing by 3 months and walking at 4 months. He was wondering what the Guinness World Record is for the earliest walker...

Who's that pretty girl in the mirror? Gloria likes her new mirror - a shower gift from Betty. Thank you!

And now a picture of what is happening at this very second in the bedroom...

Such sleepy heads :)

Friday, February 22, 2008

Baby Shower and Outings

Our "Welcome Baby Shower" was last Sunday and all went well. The ride to St. Joseph was uneventful until about 15 minutes away when Gloria decided she wanted to eat. We stopped in a parking lot of a store that was closed, Gloria ate for about 15 minutes, and then we were off again. During the shower, Gloria slept almost the entire time except for 15 minutes when she wanted to eat. She was passed around among the guests and didn't make a peep. She stayed sleeping all snuggled in her blankie.

The food was DELICIOUS thanks to Vicki! Yummy chicken salad puffs, cucumber sandwiches, and ham ribbon sandwiches. The cake was really pretty and April made "G" cookies.

We received many great gifts. Gloria now has so many different outfits she probably could wear a different one every day of the year! She is definitely a fashion diva now! How will I ever decide what to put her in?


On Wednesday this week, my mom and I decided that it was time for Gloria to make her first outing in Grand Rapids. We bundled her up and loaded her in the car on the way to Costco and the mall. She fell asleep instantly in the car and stayed sleeping most of the time in Costco. But then she woke up - and she didn't wake up silently. Oh no! She woke up crying loudly. We ended up carrying her until we left. I fed her in the parking lot and then we made our way to the mall. At the mall I used the stroller for the first time, but she didn't want anything to do with it. She knew when she wasn't being held and would start to cry. My mom and I took turns holding her and pushing the stroller. We did manage to do a bit of shopping at JCPenneys (and found her some cute summer outfits), Barnes & Nobel (and bought Rob a "dad" book), and Motherhood Maternity (to buy me some nursing shirts and jammies). I fed her again at the maternity store and she finally let us set her in the car seat in the stroller and she fell asleep. It was a very interesting day out - I definitely don't think I could've done it by myself. That night she slept straight through from 11pm to 5am :)



Yesterday my mom and I took Gloria out again - this time to Meijer and Target. The trip was the complete opposite of the one on Wednesday. I fed her right before we left and she ate very, very good. She fell asleep in the car seat before we even got her in the car and she stayed sleeping the entire time we were gone (about 2 1/2 hours). She had no idea we even left the house. When we got back she was still sleeping, so we let her finish her nap in the car seat. Last night Gloria slept from 10pm to 4am.

Tonight Rob and I took Gloria out to a quick restaurant and then to Babies R Us to buy the final items off of our registry, including a mobile and a mattress for her crib. She fell asleep on the way to the restaurant and slept through almost our entire meal. When she started to cry we were ready to go, so we loaded her up and crossed the street to Babies R Us. I was able to feed her right away since the store has a nice room for moms, complete with a couch. Gloria ate and then we tried to start getting our things but she was crying. Rob held her for awhile and then I did. She finally fell asleep in my arms as we gathered the last things on our list. She woke up as we were getting ready to check out. She hadn't eaten too much when we had gotten there, so I took her back to feed her again as Rob checked out and loaded the car up. We just got home and Rob is holding her. I think she has fallen asleep. She really didn't sleep too much today so hopefully she has another restful night. I would like another 6 hour stretch of sleep tonight.

Saturday, February 16, 2008

Sleep



I don't know what's going on, but the last two nights Gloria has let us sleep for a few nice stretches of time. On Thursday night, she slept from 11:30pm to 4:30ish and then last night she slept from 10pm to 4ish. 5 hours and 6 hours! What is happening?! I loved it. I actually felt awake when I woke up in the morning.

Now she's sleeping with Daddy on the couch. She spit practically everything she ate at the last feeding, so I'm hoping that her tummy feels better when she's ready to eat again - which could be any minute.

Tomorrow is our "welcome baby" shower. I'm really excited to get out of the house and see my family. But I must admit it's a bit daunting trying to figure out when to leave so that we'll have enough time to feed her right before the shower so that she doesn't need to eat during it. This is the first time Gloria will be going anywhere besides the doctor's office. I hope she's all smiles and content the whole time.

Wednesday was Gloria's one month birthday and she spent the majority of it sleeping. I made her some celebration brownies but she didn't want to eat any of them so I shared them with Rob, my mom and April. April came over for dinner and Gloria fell asleep in her arms. However, she did make sure to show off her manicure! She wanted bright red nail polish but mommy had to tell her she wasn't old enough yet. :)