Beebop-a-Lula

My camera’s card died over the weekend, so I’m posting a pic from a few weeks ago that is really cute.

sweet

And a fun little update: tonight we were playing before bedtime and Lulu was sort of upside down when I noticed that her top teeth are getting ready to pop through! Her top right is definitely ready to cut through and I’m sure the left one is not too far behind. I had noticed that she’s been tugging at her ear, her nose was a bit runny and she’s been coughing a lot this past week. Now I know why!

Lulu and the big jolly guy

Last weekend we went to see Santa! I really wasn’t quite sure how she would react to him knowing that a lot of kids are afraid of him. Not Lulu! She was infatuated with him!

Out of the 6-8 photos that were taken half of them was of her looking right up at him. She could barely tear her gaze from him unless Mom was jumping up and down like a lunatic.

And she does look like she’s flipping him off!

Lulu’s first snow!

I can't put my arms down!

snowflakes on her eyelashes

All of us in the snow

I wouldn’t say that Lulu has been lazy when it comes to rolling over, it’s something we’ve been practicing a lot for the past few weeks. But she has been a bit self-sabotaging in a sense. When she’d start to roll over she would counter-balance herself by extending one of her arms as she started to roll.

Tonight we were playing on the floor, she was grabbing her toes while her parents were chatting. All of a sudden she just rolled over on her own, which shut us up pretty quick. And of course, it was all she could do for the rest of the night!

roll over from Salem Insider on Vimeo.

weight: 13 lbs. 9 ozs. (a gain of 2 lbs)
height: 26 inches!! (that’s almost 4″ since her 2 month appointment!)

Needless to say, this little girl is GROWING fast! I could not believe when they told me how tall she is. She is in the 99th percentile for height and only 50th percentile for weight. She really is going to take after her father. Lula-bean is proving to be an appropriate nickname.

We waited a long time for the doctor to come into the room. There were some cute wire beaded butterflies hanging from the ceiling, so she watched them sway while all nekkid and held onto her feet while we waited.

When I told the Dr. I thought she was teething, she gave me this long diatribe about how biting, drooling and putting things in her mouth is all part of regular development. I looked at her skeptically, but afterall, she IS the doctor. Then she felt Lulu’s gums and chuckled that I might actually be right. Ha. Take that Doctor Lady!

I think she can get those toes in her mouth

She said that the strawberry mark on her head appears to be receding and also gave me instructions for starting solid foods, although that will happen closer to six months. But seeing how this baby is developing, I wouldn’t be surprised if we started her on solids sooner.

She did get another shot today, but she handled it way better than before. She cried and had that what-did-you-let-them-do-to-me look in her eye, but she quieted right down when I stuffed a bottle in her mouth. She basically forgot all about the pain in her leg. And then she fell asleep.

Lulu’s christening was this past weekend. The dress she is wearing was worn by her mother when she was a baby and also worn by her maternal grandfather (and quite possibly one of his parents).

Her Uncle John and Auntie Sarah are her proud god parents and we are very happy that they accepted.

And thank you to our family and close friends for being there to share the experience and for all your generosity. We love you guys!

Today went off without a hitch. Forrest dropped Lulu off this morning and I made it through my workday with barely a tear in my eye.

Here’s the daycare’s journal entry from today:

Lulu started her day with some cuddles from Ms. Karen. She had some great smiles. Relaxing in the swing-looking all around her new classroom. Lulu made her footprint for the birthday wall. She was not such a fan of painting today. Some belly time for Lulu-strong girl holding up her head and watching her new friend Ronan. Very short naps. Played on the mat and watched everything around her. Great first day!

And on the new development this evening: GIGGLES!

In recent weeks I’ve notice a little laugh here or there from her, but it seemed sort of arbitrary. It was usually in response to dressing or undressing. But tonight while we were playing together she distinctly let out the cutest belly laugh over and over again in response to the silly faces I made at her. I was afraid that I would miss out on her first laugh, but I should have known that my baby would save them for me!

Summer is just about over and there’s a slight chill in the air these days. People continue to be super generous in giving Lulu things: toys, books and lots of clothes (the girl’s got more clothes in her closet than I do now!). Even our friend’s moms (who’ve never met us) gives the baby presents!

This sweater was made by our friend, Gwen's mom (thank you!). There are even matching leg warmers!

Labor day weekend we had a full house. Our friends Fred & Kristyn came to visit (with even more presents!) and meet the little one. The weather was great on that Sunday, so we spent a good portion of afternoon sitting outside having appetizers and cocktails, watching life in Salem go by.

Dad & Lulu

Fred

Kristyn

Monday, after Fred & Kris headed back home to NYC, Lulu’s aunties came for a visit. They’re always so excited to see her that sometimes it can get overwhelming for such a little girl. She was passed around more than a football that day and they took pictures of her like they were paparazzi! They just love her so much.

Little Lulu surrounded by a captive audience

Every day she changes, getting stronger and stronger. She is always trying to sit up on her own and pushing her little legs up to stand. She does a great job holding her head up for long periods of time, even though she ends up looking like a bobble head on occasion.

I can’t believe how much she’s changed in seven short weeks and I’m looking forward to see what’s in store for the next seven!

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!

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.

click images to view larger

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.