Big News!

After lunchtime today, I took Autumn upstairs to have her bath. After a wonderful time in the bath, we went and got dressed as usual. I put her down on her tummy time blanket face down as always and realized that I forgot her pacifier, which is a necessity during tummy time. I knew that there was a spare in our bedroom, which is right across the hall, so I ran over to pick it up. When I came back in the room, I was shocked to see my little girl on her back!! I recently read that she should start rolling over to one side soon, but I did not believe it. I rolled her back over and went to pick up the video camera because I want proof of this day. So I got back to the room, set up the video camera, and waited. Unfortunately, Autumn did not want to oblige and I have about 10 minutes of uneventful video of her on her tummy (which by the way I still have no way to get off of the camera, but I'm still working on that issue).

This event makes me sad because it is 100% proof that she's growing up. These next couple of days/months/years are going to be filled with milestones, all of which I will document here (hopefully!). I know that this is a big one, but is definitely the first of many. I just can't believe that I missed it.

After I turned off the camera, I read Autumn the only "cry" book that I have, which is called Someday. It's all about a mom and a little girl and talks about the things that the little girl will do in her lifetime and at the end it says something like that she will look back and remember her mommy when she's gone. I didn't get more than about 4 pages in the book before I just started bawling. I cried the rest of the book and made Autumn promise that she's never going to get any bigger. She promised, I swear.

Autumn, 7 weeks

We are still working on our smiles. Some days she smiles the whole day, and others, not at all! I really can't wait until she's all smiles, which I hear could be right around the corner. I'm still working on getting the precious videos off of the camera, and I soon as do, I'll post them as proof!

Yesterday, we had some people over for a couple of hours. Autumn got to spend some quality time with her Granny Randy, PaPa Edwin, and Uncle Max, which she absolutely loved! Sam and Jessica also came over, since this could be one of the last weekends that they have without their new addition! I'm personally ready for baby Gonzo to be born. Autumn and her new boyfriend got to spend some quality time together, and I know she already has a crush on him! I got a cute picture of the two of them... Autumn thought he was really comfy to lay on. See for yourself!

Last night we hit a huge milestone... Autumn and I both slept for 6 hours straight! I made the comment to Jeremy that this was the longest stretch of time that I have slept since I got pregnant. I am hoping that this wasn't a fluke. We'll see what happens tonight!

And finally, we had another photoshoot with Aunt Kate today. We got some precious shots that I am going to love forever! There are many more than this, and I'll post some more later. I'm saving the best as a surprise!

Nap Time

Since Autumn likes to take naps, a lot of my pictures are of her sleeping. Lucky for her, she rarely has to nap alone. Here are a couple of my favorites...

With Aunt Kate and her cousin, Saffron

With her sisters, Abby and Sunny

With her Daddy With her sister, Dolly

Don't you wish you were as lucky as this little one to have so many naptime friends?

Autumn at 6 Weeks

I am finding it hard to believe that my little girl is already 6 weeks old. She is still such a tiny little girl, but she is growing every day! We have found a couple of 0-3 month-sized outfits that don't completely swallow her, which is really exciting. I was getting a little tired of seeing the same shirt and pant combos day after day! I cleaned out her drawer and pulled out the clothes that absolutely don't fit her anymore to make room for the new additions (not that I've bought any more clothes, we're just starting to rotate the right sized ones in!). Another thing relating to her size is that she officially does not fit in the Pampers size N diapers anymore! Unfortunately, she doesn't fit in the next size up, which are the 1s, so thanks to my friend Angela, I was redirected to the Huggies size N, which fit! It's sad to say that I've really come to rely on the indicator line on the diaper which tells me if she's wet or not, and thankfully both brands have them. I swear, diapers these days are really good at not letting you know when the baby is wet, so as a new mom, seeing that little line is reassuring.

Another development is that Autumn has begun to realize that her hands work! I see her batting at the things that we've been hanging over her head, she just doesn't quite know how to grab them yet. I'm sure we'll get there soon! She has learned to grab on to me, which I absolutely love. I will have her on my lap while I'm working and she grabs on to my collar and it's just the most precious thing I've ever seen. It's almost as if she is telling me that she's willing to take a nap as long as she knows that I'm not going to put her down! I am sure that these are not the beginning signs of separation anxiety, it is only that she loves her mommy and would rather be in my arms than in her swing or her cradle!
And finally, we officially have smiles. Real, pure smiles! I even captured it on the video camera today, and as soon as Hailey lends me the software to actually get the videos on to the computer, I will post it here. It's a wonderful sight and it will melt any heart!

On a final note, I am looking for a gadget to view my Picasa photos with. I added one... Let me know what you think (or if you can suggest a better one)!

My sister, the Photoshop genius

Pediatritian Appointment: 5 weeks

This week has been one of many challenges! I started back to work on Monday, which was inevitable. Kate came over on Monday morning to help me with Autumn and I am so thankful that she did! About 2pm, I ran upstairs to get something, and on my way back down I rolled my foot and went down like a ton of bricks! While I was in pain and couldn't stand right away, I thought I'd live, so I just limped over to my desk and began working again. My foot started to swell and the pain started to get worse, so Kate and I thought it was a good idea to go to the doctor to get it checked out. One doctor's appointment and one x-ray later, and it was confirmed that the foot was not broken, but he advised that I keep off of it and to use crutches whenever possible. My question is, how do you use crutches with a newborn?? So basically I have just been limping around the house for the last couple of days. And my mom came down to help us out as well. It's a lot better now, but the side of my foot is an odd shade of black! YUCK.

Autumn had just been growing like a little weed these days. I have been anxious to take her to the doctor to find out how much she weighs now, and yesterday was the day I had been waiting for. While my mom was here, she was trying to tell me that Autumn was at least 10 pounds, and I thought that was a little excessive. We decided to make a side bet about her weight! My guess was that she was between 7 3/4 and 8 3/4 pounds. My mom's guess was between 8 3/4 and 9 3/4 pounds and the prize was a Starbucks drink after the appointment. My mom was trying to cheat by feeding her extra milk, but I was still confident. When we arrived at the appointment, they took her to the scale, and she was 8 pounds, 11 1/2 ounces, which meant that I won by 1/2 ounce! She is now 20 3/4 inches long. That puts her in the 40th percentile for both her height and weight. The doctor was very pleased at her size and I was praised for my breastfeeding abilities. We had a good chat with the doctor, and Autumn had to get a shot, which she screamed through. I don't blame her one bit, though. The needle had to be as long as her little thigh is wide and I was convinced that it was going to come out the other side. The next doctor's appointment is her 2 month, and she will be getting 4 shots and something up her nose. I just may need a sedative for that one...

I can't believe that my little girl is almost 6 weeks old. She is really starting to take in her surroundings and is more and more alert each day. She is holding her head up with less bobbling and making more and more noises each day. I think she's going to be a talker when she grows up! It breaks my heart to look back at her teeny tiny baby pictures and realize that she's just going to keep getting bigger! I wish she could stay this little forever...

They don't grow up fast enough!

I know that is an odd title for a posting from a new mom, but I have a reason... Never in a million years did I ever think that I would have a small baby. My whole pregnancy, Jeremy's mom told me that he was a 10 pound baby and I was convinced that Autumn would be big as well. When she was born weighing 6 pounds and 7 ounces, we had to go out and buy clothes that would fit her because in that full closet that I had ready, not one thing would fit her! The 0-3 months-sized clothes were enormous and so we went and bought a couple of shirts that were newborn sized (that are supposed to fit up to 8 pounds). I was convinced that she would wear them for a week or two, and then we would be able to dive in to the clothes that we already had. Well, here we are 4 weeks later, and the newborn clothes are just now fitting her perfectly! So it's going to be a little bit before we get to all of those precious 0-3 months clothes that we already have.


The same goes for diapers. I was ready with size 1 diapers waiting for my new baby, which are for 8-14 pound babies. Needless to say, we had to purchase some size N diapers, which are for 7-10 pounders. I had a stockpile which I was going through and had decided that we were going to go up to the size 1s when I went through them. Yesterday was the day! My little girl was going to be out of her Ns and in to her 1s, and I was convinced that the timing was right. While I was out of the house, daddy put her first size 1 on and when I returned, mentioned that he thought it was a little big. When it was time for the next changing, it was my turn. The diaper was so big, it went half-way up her chest! We powered through the night with the huge diapers, but needless to say, I made a trip to Target today to buy some more sized N diapers.

Sharon and I went to Walmart the other day and saw a teensy baby. It had to be fresh out of the belly. After I got over my shock at seeing a brand new baby in the most germ-infested place in the entire world, it made me realize just how much my little one has grown in the last 4 weeks. And although she is a whole lot bigger than she was, she is still my little bird. I told myself today to just enjoy these little days, as I know I'm not going to get nearly enough of them.

First Milestone?

Tomorrow Autumn turns 4 weeks old! I cannot believe how fast she is growing. Her little personality is just popping up everywhere and I am still loving every second of it!

Today, I am convinced that she smiled her first real smile and that it was not gas, as everyone keeps telling me that these are. She had just finished her breakfast and had given me a very productive burp. I had her on her back and was talking to her and making funny faces like I do every day. All of a sudden, there was the first ounce of recognition in her eyes and she looked right at me and smiled! At first, I thought it was just a coincidence, but then she did it again! I couldn't get her to do it a third time, but I know that this had to be the real thing.

According to the mommy articles I can't get enough of, it's normal for a baby to start smiling at 4 to 6 weeks, and Autumn has been ahead of the curve from the get go (except for in the weight department, which we are seriously working on). When she was 3 weeks old, I received an article in my email that said that by the end of 3 weeks, she should be able to lift her head during tummy time and turn it to the side. Well, we started tummy time the first week she was home, and she was able to lift and turn her head at the end of 2 weeks! It just proves that we are raising a little superstar!