Growing baby

Isabelle has apparently inherited my sensitive skin. When what I originally thought was baby ache started to get worse and seemed to be bothering her, I took her to see Dr. L (pediatrician). Not sure if it's eczema or contact dermatitis but baby lotion and cortizone seem to be helping. We've had little hand mitts on her so she doesn't grab her face. Poor baby...

But she now weighs 11 lbs 5 oz!!!

She loves her Daddy

Tim can really get her to smile :)

She had fun making faces at DoDa.

Baths

Turns out Isabelle does like baths!

She looks so content and relaxed in the little baby tub.

She's always so content after a bath.

And I LOVE hooded towels!!!

Smiles!!

Isabelle has started smiling (she's been smiling for a while) long enough for us to capture it! Every time she smiled and I reach for my camera or cell phone to take a picture, it was gone or my camera or phone didn't take the picture fast enough to get it. Well, finally we've been able to make her smile by saying things in silly voices and actually get a smile! I think she might have my smile :)

Such a happy baby!

Finally found a way to carry her around that both of us like. I first tried a sling carrier and she screamed every time I tried to put her in it (promptly returned to Amazon). Then I tried a Maya Wrap (ring sling) and she actually seems pretty content to be in it! (I was really excited to find one on Craigslist for less $.) When I put her in facing me, tummy-to-tummy, she falls asleep pretty quickly. The instruction video that came with it said that babies need to have good head control to be in the 'kangaroo hold'. 6 weeks old is a little earlier than the video suggested but she's been holding her head up so well and likes to look around so I decided to try it out and she loved it! It's so nice to be able to walk around and get things done when she wants to be held. I like being able to carry her around so I can talk to her while she checks out all the things around her. (I know the picture makes it look like the sling is chocking her - it wasn't. The top edge was loose enough so she could breathe normally.)

A few pictures

A few pictures from Tim's cell phone - 5/5/10 - 2 days old,

when we were still in the hospital.

I just love how cute she is propped up on the boppy!

Her cheeks are getting chubby!

I realized that no one ever takes pictures of ME with Isabelle!

So I took some myself :)

She seems like she's getting so big but she still looks so small!

Also from Tim's cell phone - love the squishy face!!

One Month Old!

I can't take credit for these (previous owner planted them) but they're so pretty! Spring was full of garden surprises - so many things we didn't know where there!

Tim built me a vegetable garden for Mother's Day! All my herbs and veggies in pots now have room to grow!

Let's see...what's new with Isabelle. She's now sleeping in the cradle ALL NIGHT (as opposed to on top on one of us). I think she must be going through a growth spurt because she's eating A LOT and nursing every 2 hours at night (a little exhausting for me.)

In just the last couple days she seems to be able to lock eyes with us and follow us with her eyes. So cute! She's been grabbing at things a lot more, mostly my shirt when she's nursing and she's found my hair a few times. I was thinking it was time for a haircut anyway.

She's met a few other baby friends in the last few weeks.

First was Emily (6 months old)

And most recently was Jack (3 months old)

The stars have aligned...

... or something like that. Was last night a full moon or something? Whatever it was, Isabelle slept in her cradle ALL NIGHT!! Despite getting up three times to change and feed her, she slept soundly in the cradle afterwards. I'm hesitant to say I've figured out how to get this to happen because I'm sure that will mean it won't work again tonight. But I'm so relieved that my first effort at putting her down there every time we got up actually worked!

Change diaper + nurse + burp + cuddle = Isabelle sleeps in the cradle and not on top of us in bed!

Maybe she finally realizes how cute she is when she's in there...arms always over her head :)

Of course she's also really cute when she sleeps on top of one of us. This is why we call her squishy face :)