Beebop-a-Lula

Photo shoot at Salem Common today! It was a bit chilly this afternoon, so there aren’t a whole lot where you can see her little dress!

Lula-bean and I managed to keep a very busy schedule this week. It gets easier to do things with her the more comfortable I get and the more I get used to what it takes to actually get things prepared to go out on field trips. Plus I actually have energy now that she’s sleeping through the night. She’s been sleeping longer and longer at night over the past few weeks. Last night she slept from midnight to eight o’clock this morning! I actually went in and poked her to make sure she was ok!

The other day was a little cooler than normal so I dressed her in actual clothing that didn’t consist of a short onesie. She looked adorable, but a little funny wearing pants, a t-shirt and socks.

She wouldn't sit still, so getting a full length photo of her was not easy.

Future Donut Tycoon

We took a trip to the mall on Thursday for a change of pace. Lulu doesn’t really love sitting in her car seat and where she’s starting to sleep less during the day, being at the mall was a little challenging. Plus people kept wanting to come over and grill me with questions about her. She’s a little rock star wherever she goes!

Yesterday she took her first train ride into Boston to visit Mom’s co-workers (where she acquired more groupies into the Lulu Frazier Fanclub). She slept like a little angel on the train despite the many screaming children in our car.

Fast asleep in the peanut shell sling on the train

Last night we had a big play date lounging around on the floor together. She is definitely beginning to vocalize more with little coos and ahhs, while she kicks her feet excitedly (in between watching the Olympics, of course).

mid-conversation before crankiness set in

Her features are changing so fast, not only has she lost the majority of the hair on her head (new hair is growing in fast) but her eyelashes are getting incredibly long and gorgeous.

check out those peepers!

weight: 9.6 lbs (average in her age-range)
height: 22 1/4″ (top 90th percentile)

Not much to report from our appointment. They said she is gaining good amounts of weight & were surprised with how alert, calm & strong she is. Not to mention the fact that she sleeps through the night and has for almost two weeks. They jokingly asked if she was older than a month and said that she’s gonna be advanced (but I already knew that! She is our child, afterall!).

Better start baby-proofing the house soon!

Over the past few days little Lula-bean has lost most of the hair on her head. I kind of knew it would all fall out. I just didn’t think it would fall out and look like male pattern baldness. So at the moment she looks like Bill Murray’s lovechild.

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But we think she’s still cute! (Aren’t all parents supposed to say that??) No…she’s totally cute! And still really happy!

A rare photo of Lulu's smile.

Everyday continues to be a learning experience for me when I spend time with Lulu. She has changed so much in the past few weeks and yet she’s still so tiny and petite (although very long). She’s getting pudgy legs and arms and is feeling less like a frail bird. Her cheeks are also chubby. I just want to bite them! Her eyes will definitely be brown, but I think they’ll be light like mine rather than Forrest’s chocolate brown eyes. The jury’s still out on what her hair color will end up being.

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She is becoming more aware of her surroundings, actually focusing on things. When I put her on a blanket on the floor she immediately starts watching tv. A new development this week is that she actually smiles at me when she sees me. No, it’s not just gas…

Watching the Jonas Brothers on Regis & Kelly...she thinks Joe is the cutest.

She has a voracious appetite. It’s like she can’t eat enough! If we don’t feed her immediately she either sucks on her fist or is giving us baby-sized hickeys on our necks until her bottle is ready. In all honesty, she’s going longer between feedings so she’s actually eating less in a day (which means I have to put more formula in her bottles).

Enjoying her favorite activity

It just seems like all she wants to do is eat! It’s fine by me, she’s getting stronger by the day. She holds her wobbly lil head up for long periods of time when she’s lying on our chest. She gets it up so high that she actually makes eye contact with us. I also make sure she spends quality tummy time on the floor so she builds up her neck and back muscles. She’s a determined little thing. I just feel bad when she smashes her nose.

trying to hold that head up

While Lulu is somewhat of a night owl, her night time sleep schedule is finally getting better. This week she’s been sleeping 5-6 hours at night, usually from either 1am-6ish am or 2am to 8am. She’ll be sleeping through the night in no time we just need to shift those hours a little bit!

Spooky is fairly disaffected by Lulu’s presence and remains aloof. He is barely interested in her when she’s around. Sometimes he watches her with mild interest. While we’re feeding her he’ll jump up on the back of the couch and peer at her over our shoulder.

Spooky's not impressed

I did catch him slowly approach and sniff at her head before he skulked away. However he does seem to get concerned when he hears her crying. He circles around in the general vicinity and meows when she sounds upset.

This weekend she’ll be a full month old. We’re still adjusting to life with a newborn but it hasn’t been as challlenging as we thought (yet). We’re just rolling with it day to day, we take her out to as many places as we can. She usually just sleeps through it. And the other good thing about taking her places? She gets to wear awesome hats!

Home-girl's throwing up gang signs already.

Yesterday Lulu and I went to the movies and saw the latest “Mummy” movie together!

The mom & baby specific show was not as bad as I thought it would be. There were only six babies there, and out of the six only one was an active, vocal toddler. I brought the baby in her peanut shell sling rather than lugging the stroller in. The house lights were up in the theater, but it was still dim enough to watch the movie and the sound was not as loud as a normal show would be.

I wasn’t sure how things were going to go, whether I’d get irritated by other people’s kids or that mine would be fussy. It was either going to be a great thing or a giant mistake. Turned out to be ok. Lulu slept through the entire movie and barely made a peep, the other kids didn’t bother me too much and while the movie wasn’t the best I’ve ever seen it didn’t completely suck and it got us out of the house. I definitely see a few more of these shows in our future!

Lulu zonked out for the movie

blurry pic of us

Lulu continues to be one of the best babies, EVER.

She pretty much sleeps most of the time. During the day this week she’s been sleeping for 3 hour clips in between bottles (instead of every 2 hours like last week) and at night she sleeps anywhere from 3-5 hours at a time. She eats like a champ. When she’s hungry and we don’t have a bottle ready she manages to get at least two fingers in her mouth to suck on while she’s waiting. It’s too cute.

She gets the hiccups a LOT (which she had a lot while she was still in my tummy. It used to drive me nuts!) and recently she has begun to get frustrated when she gets them. Oh, and we discovered that she has a little strawberry birthmark on her head underneath all of her hair.

We take her out with us every chance we get. She’s already been to half of the fine establishments around Salem, in the tattoo shop (they wouldn’t tattoo her yet…j/k!) and for many walks outside. People stop to look at her all of the time because she’s such a little peanut.

Forrest’s paternity leave is over and he is heading back to work on Monday-leaving Lulu and me on our own. We’ll miss having him here with us, but we’ll make the best of our time together.

Lulu & Daddy

On Monday morning we have a movie date at Salem Cinema. They’ve got a “mommy and me” show at 10 am and they’re showing “The Mummy” free for all the mommies. Then Lulu’s aunties, Chrissy & Sara, are coming to visit for the day!

Today was a first for Lulu: her first bath!

I wasn’t sure how she would react to being submerged into water but she seemed to really like it. I had Forrest video & take photos of the occasion: 20 minutes of nuthin’ but tub time. We really ARE parents, ha ha!

Nekkid baby! (click images to view larger)

In the tub

After her shampoo

Lulu & Mom