A Quick Pre-Weekend Update

There has been so much excitement in our house that I realized just now that I haven't posted in over a week!

Firstly - our friends Natalie and Dave welcomed their baby boy into the world last week! He's on the (short) pre-approved list of suitors for Abby in the future. Wish them well HERE.

In other news:
Abby has learned to put her hand to her mouth! She has been doing this mostly when she's hungry, so that's helpful.
She also learned how to put a finger or two in her mouth to pass time!
She is grabbing and grasping some things already too.

All of the above are right on track for developmental goals!! There are plenty of pictures, including examples of all of the above examples, on our Picasa Album. Here's one to wet your appetite.

(I absolutely love this picture! She's sooo happy in her surfer girl outfit. We're planning to get a professional picture with this outfit and a cool skimboard that my aunt found yesterday!)

This weekend we're off to The Beach to spend time with the Monroe side of the family. There will be 18 of us on Saturday on the sand for family pictures. We have five generations all coming together. It should be great fun. Chaotic, but fun!

First University Visit & First Day of School

Yesterday we went over to the University of Maryland for Abby's first visit. She is not yet choosing between schools, don't worry! We have signed her up for the Infant Labs program at the University. They do different studies with babies (and older kids, too) and once you register, they contact you when an age-appropriate study is being done. Totally voluntary to participate in each activity.

Totally cool! Abby is a test subject and participating in the process of furthering research! Mama is so proud. (I am too, don't get me wrong. Anny is the scientist though.)

We got there and parked and filled out all of the necessary paperwork. They took Abby into the video room with Anny. They showed Abby a video and Anny sat behind her. Anny had a visor on so that she could see Abby (down) but not the video (in front of her). Anny could only report that there were bright colors from time to time, and a woman's voice saying "She" or "See" at different times.

This was a good experience and we hope to do it again soon!

On a different note, today is the first day of daycare for Abby. Anny is doing pretty good about it, but it's still hard. Any emails of encouragement would be apreciated! (Or just comments below).

I've updated the Picasa page to include pictures from this morning. Here's one to tempt you:

(more at http://picasaweb.google.com/armonroe/august2007)

2 month shots

I'll get to the trauma of vaccinations in a minute, but yesterday was Abby's two month check up. Although she is actually 9 weeks old? I have been wondering why we begin by counting weeks and then switch to counting months. It is kind of like being pregnant for 9 months, but really it is 40 weeks (which is 10 months)?

So about our visit... Abby has grown a full inch (22.5 inches long) and more than three pounds (12 pounds). This puts her a little on the chubby side, but a little baby fat is always OK especially when her only exercise is kicking the Baby Einstein to make music play.

The shots, on the other hand, were not so easy to live with.

Before giving her the vaccinations, the doctor handed me Infant's Tylenol and explained the dosage. Abby had the standard IPV, DTaP, Hib, Rotavirus, and Pnuemococcal; this equals one dose of oral medicine and FOUR shots (two in each thigh). She screamed for the shots, of course, and after a little fussing went to sleep as Rob and I took the chance to get some supplies at Babies R Us. She slept through dinner until she got hungry and realized she needed a diaper change.

Unfortunately, I did not immediately give her a dose of Tylenol, but thought she would be OK. Not so much. She did not eat very well and began crying. Despite all our usual soothing techniques, Abby cried for nearly half an hour before she fell into an exhausted sleep. I gave her the Tylenol when she began crying, but I will know better next time and give her a dose before she realizes she's still sore.

Despite our feelings, Rob and I both know that Abby doesn't remember who was holding her during the shots. And even though I try, she does not understand our explanation of how vaccinations will keep her healthy in the future. We can only hope that this gets easier as she grows older; at least the vaccinations are less frequent.

Rob Here - I'm piggy backing on Anny's post to as you to take a moment to participate in a poll. It might mean the return of the weekly poll, but not necessarily.

So - the question - do you want us to post the story of Abby's birth day. We will spare the truly gross stuff, never fear me sharing that. It's burned into my head, no need for you to share in that part. We began a post about it over a month ago but have never sat down to finish it. If you're interested, we'll finish it. If you're not, we'll delete it. You all, my friends, are the deciderers.

A Night Out

Woo Hoo and a BIG thanks to my Aunt Pam for watching Abby last night while we went out!


With our night out we hit up DuClaw for dinner and did a little clothes shopping. Not big excitement for most folks, but we sure did enjoy it.

We also enjoyed some Orange Julius. Why are there not more of those around??!

When Anny goes back to school on the 21st Abby will be headed to childcare, so last night was a good very-short trial run. We'll have to get another time away for the sake of sanity between now and then. It's really easy for me to leave Abby since I've been working since shortly after she was born. Anny on the other hand has been near her for almost every waking hour.

Next week is an Open House at the childcare place, so we'll be meeting her "teachers" in advance. They're pro's with parents leaving their kids for the first time, so here's hoping that day goes smoothly...

I realized yesterday that I have been slacking in my taking new pictures of Abby. I apologize. This weekend I'll be sure to get plenty of photos and will post some online.

Spit-up

As we sat feeding Abby this morning, Rob gave her a break and was patting her back to encourage her to burp. When he turned her to face him and she leaned towards his chest, Abby spit-up, not only on the shirt he was planning to wear, but also into Daddy's MOUTH!

Needless to say, Rob was a little grossed out. So, I think he has the Daddy badge of honor: Rob has been peed on, pooped on, and spit-up into his mouth.

My Baby is Brilliant!

At six weeks old (seven now) we took a short video of Abby. I refuse to buy a video camera because I am "not the type to want to preserve that stuff" but had to get this one down!


We have a Baby Einstein Play Gym for Abby. Of course you could assume it's for Abby, but it's been hard to convince RustyDog that it's not his toy. He's learning.

So, one of the best features of the Play Gym is that it have a song and lights feature on the piece that hangs at the very top. Abby loves the lights, and since it's usually directly under the ceiling fan, it's a bonus filled fun time!

We were taken aback last week when we noticed that Abby has figured out already how to make the sensor play the music and lights! You have to move the supports enough for the star to detect movement and the fun abounds. She has already learned how to kick the support pole so that she can enjoy the show!

Don't believe me, check out this video: http://picasaweb.google.com/ARMonroe/July2007/photo#5093693201652715506

We're not yet ready to put our baby on YouTube, but if she keeps being perfect AND adorable, that stance may change soon!!