Month Two Favorites

Now that we have approached 3 months, I thought it would be a good idea to start a "favorites" list at each month.

The Nap Nanny is a MUST HAVE! I'm so glad that we got this. The Boppy newborn lounger was great for the first month since she was so small but as she got bigger she didn't like laying down as low as the lounger was. Guess you could say she has"altitude fever". It helps during the day when she is taking a nap because she does not really like laying in her crib.

Swaddle Me-well I guess I can say that this is one of our favorite things. We used to be able to get away with the blankets taken from the hospital but she managed to get out of them all the time. Cade and I were pretty good at swaddling but these swaddle me's are so much better. Velcro is our friend. Her arms are still very active and when they are "free" she likes sucking on her hands. Not necessarily that she is hungry just has a need. When Peyton is swaddled she sleeps so much better.

Wubbanub is a pacifier with an animal on it so its easy to find and something she can hold on it and help pacify herself. This Soothie pacifier she likes more than the other soothie pacifiers. This is also helping her hold onto objects.

"Some Nights" by Fun. This is a miracle song! If Peyton is crying and nothing else is working we play this song and the crying stops or calms her down. Several of our family members have witnessed this so we aren't making it up. This is song is on every device we own.

Sleep Sheep has been great at nighttime. She enjoys having background noise to fall asleep to in particular the Beach sounds. During the first month we used an app called "White Noise" to help sleep during the night. That still works but its a lot easier to have the sheep set.

Puppy on carseat-If you want to get a for-sure smile then play the puppy. It never fails!

Fall is in the air!

These past few weeks we have been enjoying some family time together. Peyton and I have had several lunch dates and trips to the mall (no shopping just walking). She has done great being out for several hours and I'm learning how to do it all while out too. Our longest trip out was this past weekend when we went to the outlet mall and then to the Ropers house. We weren't really sure how everything would go because when we have been house hunting she gets tired of being in the carseat but she surprised us both!

Cade is now permanently home! No more training or trips for awhile. So far we haven't gotten on each others nerves. :) We are getting ready for the fall season around the house with decorations and our bath and body works "Leaves" candle. The past few days the weather has been AMAZING! Perfect for Starbucks pumpkin spice latte and porch swinging which Peyton absolutely loves. She is definitely an outdoorsy girl!

-We are officially in size 2 diapers. We've got 5 gorgeous rolls on our thighs
-Carters 3 month clothes are getting snug
-Last weigh in: 12 lbs, 24 inches
-Can sleep for 7 hours straight (not very often but we enjoy those nights)
-Enjoy our index finger
-Like sleeping in the Nap Nanny
-Favorite toys are the Octopus and Dragonfly
-Smile at ourselves in the mirror
-Learning to wave hi and bye when we are in the mirror and at people
-Favorite lullaby is "Hush Little Baby"
-Smile and "talk" alot
-Grunting at night has decreased to only when we are waking up

Forgot to add this last month

CeeCee feels so comfy

Fun w/ Grams and Grandpa

My favorite position. Look I'm walking!

We are excited to see Nicole, Sam  and baby Rihn this weekend!

Thumbs and poops

Thats what my past week has been. Of course we've been busy with lots of other things but the way the last few days have been I couldn't pass up an opportunity to tell you about thumbs and poops!

We have recently been fascinated with our thumb region. We haven't quite made it to the actual finger but boy does the area around taste good. My natural instinct is to remove the hand from her mouth and give her a pacifier instead....but Peyton will not accept a pacifier. I'm trying to break the habit early because once that thumb comes out from her other tiny fingers grasp we may have a thumb sucker (another trait of her daddy :) )
This is the scenario:
I catch her sucking on her right palm (only this one, apparently the left one isn't as good) and then give her a pacifier but she takes it in her mouth, looks at me, smiles and then spits it out and goes back to the palm.

At night time I put mittens on her hands and when she wakes up to eat I see that the mitten on her right hand has been pulled off. This girl gets what she wants! Its still a work in progress but at least I can say I tried.

Onto the subject we all love-baby bowels. I never knew that I would talk about poop as much as I have having Peyton. The typical conversations between all parents: how many times a day your child has poop and its looks. Well beyond that we get to the fun stories associated with them that can certainly entertain you all day long.

This past week we've had:
-The exploding poop that makes its way up the back and conveniently on the sheets of our bed. Only to be smiling afterward.
-The sneeze and poop on mommy's hand. (keyword mommy)
-The poop that hurt so much you needed to cry afterwards. I felt Peyton's pain on this one, literally--I was holding her when it happened.

Cade has yet to experience any of these himself..hmm.

A small video of Peyton and I "talking" and her fascination with her palm. PLEASE excuse my voice/talking.

"I did what to the bed?"

  

Love her smiles

Shots...are not fun!

Today has been a busy day for the Ropers! We had Peyton's 2 month visit. She woke up in the morning smiling and talking while Cade and I were saying to ourselves how she is not going to enjoy the rest of the day. She weighs 11 lbs and is 22 3/4 in. long which puts her right on track! She got her first round of immunizations and was smiling during the oral one but as soon as they stuck her little legs, she cried like I've never heard and turned beet red. People told me theres a delayed reaction for kids but not my child as soon as the needle went in she cried. Needless to say, mommy was a wreck, I had more tears then she did! She got better once I held her and stopped crying but the problem was that she still wanted to be held and of course we had to drive home! She has been a little fussy and sleeping today since she's been through so much. We are getting lots of snuggle time in.

At the doctors before her shots

I also went into work today to let my boss know I was not returning. Everyone was understanding which made me feel better. 

This past weekend we went out as a family for the first time. Sunday we went and ate at Cafe Express and then we walked around market street for a little bit. Peyton did so well and was so interested in watching everyone and everything around her--definitely beat the same old scenery around the house. We also had our first date night thanks to CeeCee for watching her. We went to our favorite place The Taco Stand, it was nice but most of our conversation was about her. 

Peyton enjoying the ride

We had a low key Labor Day and just had lunch with my parents.

PawPaw talking to Peyton

Just a few things over the past few weeks:

-We can put her in the swing and we eat together. 

-LOVES her playmat

-LOVES her puppy keyboard--we put those wiggly legs to use and play music

-Talks more to us now

-End the nights with our dancing to country music which is helping put her to sleep

-Focusing on objects more now and is starting to hold onto things

-She loves grabbing my hair

-Smiles alot

-Still grunts in her sleep and is not liking to be swaddled anymore

-Will only take the pacifier when she gets hungry

-She is sleeping about 5 hours each night and at 3a.m. she is soo happy!

-Does not like you to wake her up--guess she takes after mommy!

-Has to be held on your shoulders so she can see everything

-Started tummy time and so far she has done great

Here are a few pictures of Peyton:

Storytime

Happy Grandparents Day!

Sweet P

Well Peyton has been in a growth spurt for about 3 weeks now, eating around the clock. She is our little chunky monkey, especially watching her guzzle down an entire bottle in about 10 minutes!

She is getting so much stronger in holding up her head
She enjoys listening to music, not lullaby music, during our daily dance session
So observant and wants to be held up on your shoulders all the  time
We have spoiled her where she constantly wants to be held...but how can you not to a beautiful face like this!

Dance time!

Practicing her whistle lips

I had my 6 week check up this week and am doing great and back to "normal" if there is such a term!
Cade has been in Plano this past week and Peyton has kept me busy this entire time especially a night. Ill take it as she just enjoys our time together so much during the day that she wanted to continue the fun at night and not sleep! Apparently I never slept when I was a baby so the saying what comes around, goes around. Thank goodness for grandparents. My parents brought over lunch and breakfast for me and CeeCee came over to watch Peyton while I went out grocery shopping. Cade was able to come back a day early and Peyton slept for 4 1/2 hours--she was happy he was back to rock her to sleep.

You mean dad is gone for a week?

The next thing we have is our 8 week appointment where Peyton will be getting her first set of immunizations. I'm not looking forward to that but once we do this, we can start going out in public. Peyton has been wanting to go to the mall :) We are also focusing on what our halloween costume will be!

Gotta love little girls!

Happy 1 month Peyton!

Its hard to believe that a month has gone by. It seems like everyday there is something new she is doing.

Here are some facts from the past 2 weeks:

Week 3:
-Her hair is starting to have a reddish tint to it
-she lifts her head up for about 5 seconds without help but is still wobbly
-More alert when she is awake
-Enjoys going outside and swinging on the porch. (Mommy enjoys this too!)
-Legs are getting "chunkier" :)
-Still grunts, laughs, sighs and cries in her sleep. Cade and I lay in the bed laughing at times
          Cade's nickname for her is Squeaky because of all her noises

Can you see the red tint

Week 4:
-introduced a bottle for the first time (she took it well!)
-LOVES "Some Nights " by the band Fun. (we play this song and she stops crying)
-officially upgraded to 0-3 month clothes no more tiny newborn clothes unless we pack in those chunky little legs!
-enjoys us singing and dancing to music
-sleeps better at night and we can go to about 3 hours until we wake her up to eat if she doesn't wake up herself
-enjoys "white noise" at nighttime to help her fall asleep. She particularly likes rain and ocean waves.
-starting to roll to one side (yikes this is too early!!)

worn out from CeeCee

quality father-daughter time

we've upgraded to the tub!

She still loves having her hand by her face just like she did every time we had an ultrasound and she is wide awake at 2a.m.-3a.m. (just like when she would move around in my belly). I think she has observed my twisting my hair, which is a horrible habit I've had all my life that I can't seem to break, because she has started to "play" with her hair while eating I guess we can say like mother like daughter.

I developed mastitis this past week which is an infection in my breast tissue so I'll be on antibiotics for about a week. Apparently it can be a common thing for breastfeeding moms and nothing that harms Peyton. This past weekend I had to take it easy and Cade took over the majority of taking care of Peyton so I could recover.

Upcoming this week is Cade's last week at McKesson. He will now be working from home! He has 2 weeks of training to attend (a week in Plano and a week in North Carolina) so I have informed the grandparents about the needed help so I can have a break to do the necessities like taking a shower! Haha. I've been trying to work on knitting but I've realized that I don't have the down time I need to really work on it at this time, so Peyton and I are catching up on some much needed reading!

2 weeks old

Its hard to imagine that 2 weeks ago our little girl was born. We've done a lot in the past 14 days.
Our first pediatrician appointment was the Monday after she was born. The doctor was really pleased with her color and surprised at how "pink" she was. She lost some weight since being in the hospital and currently was 6 lbs 10 oz which the doctor said was normal for her to lose weight. We  had our list of questions to ask her and it wouldn't have been complete without pooping on the pedi scale! Our next appointment was scheduled for a week later to make sure she is gaining weight.

First bath at home....not really a fan

Second bath went a lot better. She likes her mohawk

During our first week, we had multiple visitors (friends and family) come by to visit Peyton and help us out. It was great to see how many people care about her. Cade is off for 2 weeks and we have realized how fast time goes by during the day with a newborn. We try to "sleep in" till 9a.m. then Peyton is up for the day. I know everyone says sleep when she sleeps and we try to but at times when you are up, you're up!
So our first week consisted of:
-eating every 2 hours
-changing about 16 diapers a day
-sleeping (well Peyton)
-taking 20 pictures a day of her

Fingers near mouth, we know what time it is.

Week 2
We had our follow-up doctor appointment and Peyton gained some weight and is 7lbs 2 oz (though with all the feeding I feel like it should have been more) and 20 1/2 inches. The doctor was happy with the amount of weight gain and how she is doing overall. She had follow-up screening tests and didn't even cry when the nurse stuck her! Our next visit is at 2 months where we get our first round of immunizations (I just hope she is as good then as she was at our last visit but I know its going to be completely different).

We also had our newborn pictures which from the sneak peek look fabulous! Peyton made sure to leave her mark on every quilt that we used!

Peyton playing with daddy. She rolled over to look at him!

Cade returned to work this week and it has been an adjustment especially for him because of the lack of sleep. It was nice to have us all together at home.
This week's developments:
-Peyton is more awake
-Grunts in her sleep
-Starting to smile while awake (and smiles while sleeping so she must be having good dreams)
-Our growth spurt has started early because at 1 1/2 hours she wanting to eat (its like clock work-she is never late!)
-CRY when hungry (no more needing to wake her up to eat) and cry when we change her diaper but she doesn't cry when she is wet
-loves to be held and walked around the house--she knows when you sit down and will wake up and cry

She loves making this face and always has a hand by her face

I love my nap nanny!