4 Months

Well Chloe is now four months old! I know I say it every month, but I can't believe four months have already gone by. The last month has been busy for us and for Chloe. As in the last post she is starting to discover a lot of new things and we are discovering new things about her everyday.

The most recent discoveries are her new favorite toys. She really loves this mirror that lights up and plays music and is shaped like a fish. She's had this toy since Christmas, but just in the past few weeks has she really started to love this toy. You have to touch it or one of the hanging toys and she has been playing with it and touching it to make the lights and music play on her own. It seems like she understands in order to make the music and lights turn on you have to touch it. She also loves to play with her car seat sun shade. If her sun shade isn't attached at the top then she will pull it down and treat it like a roller coaster lap bar. She puts her arms on it and pulls it up and down. She gets frustrated when the sun is hitting her face because we will latch it so it stays in place, but she just wants to pull it down to play with.

Chloe also got a sweet new ride. We go on walks a lot and in Arizona there are a lot of dirt paths rather than sidewalks and because of this her regular stroller doesn't handle our walks very well sometimes. So we decided to look for jogging strollers with actual bike tires that could handle different terrains. We did not find a jogging stroller that had everything that we wanted, but we did find an all terrain stroller that works perfectly.

Chloe and I have been very lucky the past few weeks as we have been able to meet Zach for lunch a few times each week. It is really nice since by the time he gets home we basically give Chloe a bath and but her to bed. He doesn't get to spend much time with her Sunday - Wednesday so he really likes it and so do we.

We were able to meet Alemitu Fischer, Sabrina and Adam's new daughter. She is just about 5 months older than Chloe so we are very excited that Chloe will have a cousin to grow up with. Chloe was more interested in watching Wes and Calvin wrestle with Adam than she was in Alemitu. I did put Chloe on her belly while Alemitu was on her belly playing so they could look at each other, but Chloe really didn't care and Alemitu wasn't really happy about it either. They tried to share toys, but they were definitely confused as to what was going on. Whenever Chloe would start to fuss or make noises then Alemitu decided she needed to do the same. It was really funny to watch the two of them together.

We went to the doctor on Friday and he was very pleased with her. She weighs 12 pounds and 8 ounces. I'm not sure how long she is as we forgot to ask after they measured her. She is in the 25th percentile for weight and the 75th percentile in height. Which I guess is really good because her doctor said that they want to see them with at least one percentile in between if not too and they want to see a higher height percentile than weight.

Zach went to the doctor with us and I made him hold Chloe down during her shots. He is suppose to hold her hands and talk to her while the nurse gives her the shots, but Zach was so fascinated by the shots he didn't really talk to her so she realized and felt the shots and did not like them. Zach just told me that he was toughening her up. She didn't cry a lot though, after the shots were over she cried about 1 minute and then was over before we had her outfit back on her. We were excited to talk to the doctor about adding in rice cereal to her meals, but he said that he would recommend oatmeal and even some green vegetables. We are very excited to try to feed her some "real" food so we will see how it all turns out.

I can't wait to see what new things she does in this next month and maybe, just maybe, she will smile for pictures.

Discoveries

The last few weeks have been weeks of discoveries and I just couldn't wait two more weeks to share all of the exciting news. The sad thing is that the one thing we haven't discovered is how to take a family photo where everyone is smiling and looking in the same direction.

Bubbles
Chloe has been blowing bubbles a lot lately. She has blown bubbles for over a month, but the last few weeks there are constantly bubbles on her lips and sometimes they are really really big. She is drooling a lot too, but we can't decide if it is the early stages of teething or if it is just due to all of the bubbles. I've read that teeth are one thing that is a hereditary development. I'm not sure I really believe that, but in any case Zach started getting his teeth around 5 months and had all 4 front teeth at 6 months and I had my first tooth at about 5 1/2 months. So either way it looks like the teething fairy is coming our way!
Feet
I saw Chloe grab her foot for the first time and my face just lit up. I've been a little anxious because she isn't really grabbing or reaching for things like I thought she would. Even though Chloe is our first and every baby is different, I still thought that she would be reaching for more things. So when Zach and I were playing with her and she grabbed her foot I was very excited. It was like she was saying "Mommy, I can do this, but I choose not to do it, but for your sake I'll prove it to you." Now she grabs her feet here and there when we play and every time I still get excited.
Rolling
Now I'm not sure if she did a legitimate roll over, but she did roll over. When we give her tummy time we always tell her what we are doing as we are doing it and we tell her to put her arm here and roll over. So I rolled her over to her belly for some tummy time and within a few minutes she was on her side and then she did a slow roll to her back. I was so excited and sad because Zach wasn't home. I went to go grab the camera and try to persuade her to do it again, but she wouldn't. She didn't even try again. She smiled when she rolled over, but she hasn't been too interested in trying again.
Fingers
She started sucking on her hand within the past month, but the past week she has started sucking just on her fingers. Sometimes it will be one, other times it will be two fingers and on a rare occasion she will stick three in her mouth and gnaw on them for a bit. We have to watch her sometimes because she will start sucking so hard her little fingers turn red and we tell her to give her fingers a little rest.
Grabbing
She has really started to grab things when we play with her on her play mat. There are these interchangeable rings that we hang and she will hold on and swing them and put them in her mouth and just never let go of them. She also has realized that she can take her pacifier out of her mouth and put it back in herself. Sometimes it gets a little too far for her to reach and that makes her upset so I tell her just to leave it in and stop playing with it, but she doesn't listen. She has also fell in love with a little Zebra toy. Zach and I have separate diaper bags because he doesn't want to carry around a girly Vera Bradley bag so he has a manly satchel. In transferring everything and creating two bags he took the purple hip that she has had in her bag so we went to the store to get a new toy for my diaper bag. After about 10 minutes staring at all the toys I just grabbed the Zebra and said it would do. Little did I know it would be one of her favorite things. It has over sized feet which she tries very hard to get in her mouth, but they are about twice the size of her mouth. She also like to cuddle with it and squeeze it. Zach and I think she is going to grow up with either a special blankey or stuffed animal because this is the first thing she has really cuddled with. It's cute to watch her cuddle and funny to watch her try to figure out how to get the giant foot in her tiny mouth.
Voice
Chloe has definitely found her voice and I'm a little nervous. My mom always said and we always laughed about the fact that the moment Christina's feet hit the floor her mouth opened. That's kind of how Chloe has been minus the feet hitting the floor. Its like as soon as we wake her up and she is fed she just talks and talks and talks. I love to hear her talk, but I wonder if she is going to be like Christina. She has also been trying out new sounds. She squeaks and squeals all the time and we think she just likes to hear the sounds that she can make. When we tell her to say "Ma Ma" or "Da Da" she just gives us a big smile.

Well as you can see it has been an eventful few weeks and even though my family had to postpone their trip until the end of March it has still been a great few weeks. We have a busy month coming up as we are taking our first family vacation to Sedona, I am getting my wisdom teeth pulled out and my family is coming the end of March. Not to mention I'm sure Chloe will be doing hundreds of new things!

3 Months

3 months down and every day I learn something new. I'm not sure if I've bragged enough, but Chloe is a great baby girl! She is now sleeping 11 hours each night and we are so grateful for that. Although, she doesn't like to take her naps as much during the day, but she will catnap and take about three 45 minute naps a day. I will take it as long as she stays sleeping through the night. We are starting to switch her schedule from eating every 3 hours to every 4 hours. We've tried in the past and she wasn't ready so here we go again. I think it will work this time as with each day passing she is awake longer and more alert.

Chloe is starting to get quite a little personality. She's smiling more, although you wouldn't know by the pictures because she immediately puts on a serious face when she sees the camera. She's also really starting to giggle and laugh a lot. I can get her giggling, but Zach can really make her giggle. She also has started to play some tricks. She will fuss or whine in her stroller and then when we try to give her a pacifier she just smiles really big or if she doesn't want to eat anymore she just looks up at us with her big blue eyes and smile while the milk just runs down her cheek and we can't help but to smile back which makes her smile even bigger. When Zach comes home from work he will come over and say hi to her and she will often look the other way and try to hide her smile. It is really funny. We aren't sure if she knows she is playing games, but she is definitely playing them.

Not only has she found a little personality she has also found her hands. She found her right hand first and it was like her left hand didn't exist as she wouldn't do anything with it, but the day she found her left hand was hilarious. It was like we saw this light bulb go off and she was amazed that she had another hand to suck on. She's not really reaching up for things yet, but if you give her a toy she will hold it and swing it around and stare at it very intently.

Call us bad parents if you like, but we have discovered she likes Tom & Jerry cartoons and so we let her sit in her swing in front of the TV and watch an episode or two during the day. I'm not sure why she likes them so much, but she does. Sometimes we will catch her smiling a little smile while she watches the shows. We do try to be educational and have her watch Baby Einstein and Praise Baby as well. I think it is just the bright colors that she likes.

She isn't rolling over yet, but she is working on it. Zach found her stuck in her crib on her side and she was crying because she was stuck on her side. We also will roll her over rather than pick her up when we want her to have some tummy time. Sometimes when she is on her tummy she tries to roll over, but gets stuck on her side. She looks like a fish out of water when she starts flopping and rolling back and forth trying to get some momentum to roll all the way over. Its quite funny.

We have also discovered that she does not like the dark. We had started to notice that when we would be out after dark she would not be happy in her car seat. We initially thought she was just lonely or hungry, but it started happening not around feeding time and even when I would sit back with her. We have a mirror with lights in the back with her that she likes and we thought that maybe at night the lights are too bright or the street lights were coming in on her face too much. We just would let her fuss it out because nothing seemed to work. The other day we went to the Chiropractor and he had turned out the lights to develop some X-Rays and she started fussing there too. Zach took her out front where the lights were on and she was happy. So the next day we went out to dinner and when she started to fuss on the way home I told Zach that maybe it was the dark that she didn't like. He turned on his dome lights and sure enough she immediately quieted down. She was completely content. She has no issues at night in her crib when she knows she is suppose to sleep, but in the car or when she is not asleep she does not like to be in the dark.

As I'm writing this I am realizing just how much she has done and learned in the past month and I'm amazed. We didn't go to the doctor this month, but by our scale she is about 11.5 pounds and between 23.5 - 24 inches long. I can't wait for this next month as my sister and her family and my mom will all be visiting from Indiana. Christina and the kids haven't seen Chloe yet so we are excited to show her off! Also, fingers crossed, there is a possibility that she may meet her new cousin Alemitu this next month!

Sleeping Gymnast

We have discovered that we either have a magician or a gymnast. She has been quite active during her night time sleep. Its best to show in photos.

This is how we found Chloe one morning. When she started the night her feet were resting on the rolled up green blanket where he head is in this picture. After we found her like this a few nights in a row we decided it may be time to take out the white wedge she was sleeping on and just to lay her directly on the mattress.

The above photo is how we put her down each night for her bedtime since we took the wedge out of her crib.

This is how we found her in the morning. She's not too bad, but still a bit sideways and we couldn't believe how she had moved around during her sleep.

This is how we have found her for the past few mornings. We laugh every time and we are just baffled to see how she can turn completely sideways in her sleep while she is swaddled.

I think she is starting to sleep like her mommy as Zach always says I move all over the place when I sleep. I can't imagine how much she is going to move when she is not swaddled.

2 Months

I can't believe Chloe is already 2 months old. It seems like just yesterday we were in the hospital. Its definitely been a busy month with visits, but Chloe has also been growing quite a bit. She just went to her 2 month appointment and she has grown a whole inch and gained about a pound and a half. She is now 22 1/2 inches long and 10lbs 2oz. She is also smiling a ton and laughing every once in a while. It takes her a while to really start laughing and it is the funniest thing to hear, but it is so great to hear. She is also holding her head up very well and has started to "talk". She sometimes babbles herself to sleep.

She has also been sleeping anywhere from 7-9 hours a night which has been very nice. We give her tummy time every day, but we have to watch her because rather than raising her head she likes to fall asleep as it is comfortable for her. She can raise her head about a 45 degree angle. She also has had her first real bath and she loves the bath. When we would give her sponge baths she wasn't too fond of them, but she loves the real bath. Sometimes Zach will splash water on her belly and she tries to catch it in her mouth. She smiles really big every time.

The doctor said that she is just the perfect little baby and I would have to say that I would definitely agree! He said that her head is a great shape, he can see how well she holds her head and how well she focuses. He did say that she hasn't gained much color since the last time he saw her...sorry Chloe I think you are going to be pasty white like your mommy! She also got her first round of shots today and I must say that she did better than what I would have done. She had to get 3 shots in her thighs and she screamed but as soon as it was done she was perfectly fine like nothing happened.

I can't believe everything she is doing and I can't imagine what next month will be like. Maybe she will get more hair!

Family Visits

The past month has been full of visits. It all started with my parents coming the middle of December to celebrate Christmas and for my dad to see Chloe for the first time. It was a great visit. We had our Christmas and it felt like it really was Christmas even though it was about a week before Christmas. We didn't do a whole lot which worked well for Chloe's schedule since she was just 5 weeks old. During this visit was the first time that Chloe was away from both me and Zach. My mom watched her for a few hours while I was out at the doctor. Of course she did just fine for mom, but I was sure glad to get home back to her. It was great to see mom and dad interact and play with Chloe. We had a great Christmas with them and a great visit!

About 3 weeks after my family left, Zach's family came. The whole kit and kabudal! Ermine, Steve, Jeremy, Mandi and Jeff all made the trip. It was the first time for all of them, except Ermine, to meet Chloe. I don't think Chloe realized what she was getting thrown into as the Batsches are quite the crazy family. We had a great time visiting, taking walks, eating great food and going to the Botanical Garden. All the guys also went and played golf which they had a blast doing. Although, supposedly Zach cheated and tied for first with his dad. Chloe smiled the most at Steve, but she was pretty happy with everyone and everyone saw her smile.

It was a crazy couple of weeks, but we enjoyed every minute of it!

A Month Gone By

I can't believe that it has been a month already. Time has just flown by! Its been a great month and many days it just doesn't seem real. I often ask Zach "Can you believe we are parents" and then I tell Chloe "Can you believe that you lived in my belly for 9 months."

We've actually done a lot this past month since both Zach and I were off work for the majority of November and the weather has been just beautiful. We've been taking walks with Chloe to Subway, she was the hit at my office Christmas party and we've taken her to an outdoor mall for a good shopping trip. It is amazing that my biggest past time seems to just be watching her. I could watch her all day long I'm sure.

Now let me brag about how she's such a good baby. Of course I would never say she was bad, but she eats and sleeps pretty good and doesn't get too fussy. We've been very lucky that she hasn't had any uncontrollable crying episodes. She will cry, but nothing we can't handle. She normally has about 5-6 hours in between her feedings during the night so both Zach and I can get a good 6 hours each night. On Thanksgiving I saw her roll on her side and sleep for a few minutes. I'm not sure if all babies can do that, but I was shocked to see her actually roll herself on her side and keep herself there for a bit before she went back on her back to sleep. She has also started smiling a bit. I'm not too sure if she knows she is smiling, but in my mind she does. She will smile when you tickle her feet or under her arms, sometimes when we are just talking to her and most of the time when we give her raspberries on her cheeks or feet. Zach got her to giggle a bit last week. (or at least what he considers giggle) She had a big smile on her face and made a few little baby noises. She is very alert during her wake times and sometimes in between feedings if we are out on a walk or running errands she doesn't nap much because she is so curious about what is going on around her.

We went to the doctor today for her monthly check up and she is weighing in at 8lbs 12oz which is in the 26th percentile for her age and she is 21 1/2 inches long, which is the 68th percentile. The doctor said that she has a beautiful perfectly shaped head and she couldn't believe how alert she was through the whole appointment. Chloe was just looking around and following the doctor when the doctor was checking Chloe out.

The dogs have also been pretty good with her. They are very curious and Daisy is really protective over her. Daisy does not even want Buster near Chloe. It is quite funny to watch Daisy block out Buster or push him away. Chloe doesn't seem to mind the dogs either. They can bark all they want and it hasn't woken her up from a nap or really scared her at all. Hopefully she will continue to sleep through their barks.

Well I'm sure you've all stopped reading this by now and are just looking at the pics...