Happy "Holly"ween!

Happy "Holly"ween! Our little pumpkin can thank her father for that creative greeting. He was playing with her one morning while she was wearing her "Baby's 1st Halloween" onesie and instead of spelling H-a-l-l-o-w-e-e-n, he replaced the 'a' with an 'o' and the 'o' with a 'y.' He is the most adorable first-time father I've ever seen as I watch him come up with the most random and crazy things to say to his daughter. I love it and him! Holly is very lucky to have him as a daddy and I can't wait until she's old enough to go running to him with big hugs and kisses and telling him how much she loves him. For now, I settle for when I watch her face light up with a big smile as she sees or hears him. :)

Last night Pat and I took her to the Family Fun Night that my work puts on annually for the children and their families. It was kind of like her big debut to all my students and their parents and I had so much fun introducing her to everyone. She was very intent on everything going on around her and then about halfway through she gave up the ghost and fell asleep. I'm always impressed with how well children can sleep through anything. It was loud and noisy in the gym and yet she was sound asleep - until she wet her diaper, at which point she was quite vocal about wanting to go home and get changed!

Holly also got to meet C, who was the one who had nicknamed her "Biscuit." He even had a gift for her (thanks, C!), which she took full advantage of in bed this morning:

Snapshots

Loving on Daddy!













Happy Halloween from Lisa. Pat nicknamed the feetsies "Dallas" and "Bailey." I'm not sure which foot is which. ;)



















Out with the laundry, perhaps?

Another milestone

Last night was the first night Holly slept entirely through the night! She fell asleep around 10:00 PM, made a few noises around 3:30, but did not wake up until 5:00 AM. I am so proud of my little one! However, I know my excitement will be short-lived because she's sleeping away the morning today AND we're making a 2-1/2 hour drive later this evening. Ha! Definitely won't be sleeping through the night tonight.

Tomorrow we will be taking her to Children's Hospital for the ultrasound on her hips. Here's hoping they tell us that her alignment is perfect and we have nothing to worry about!

Seriously, already?!

Holly is 5 weeks old and I put her on her belly for some tummy time. She was on her belly for maybe a minute before she decided that was most definitely not where she wanted to be!

Progress?

It's only 9:02, but we've had an interesting morning so far! I was up at 6:30 with Holly to get her in the shower with me while I still had Pat's help. This was the first time she showered with me and she loved it! Once she was out, I quickly finished mine because she was demanding food. She also pooped on her towel. Strike one!

Pat changed her, I fed her and we were good to go. Or so I thought. I dug out my Halloween shirts from last year and discovered they still fit! Score! And then Holly spits up on one, so to the hamper it goes. Strike two!

Then she's hanging out quite happily in her bouncer and I hear the tell-tale gurgle-bubble of another change in pants coming. She's talking away, looking around everywhere and basically having a grand old time in her bouncer. She's not crying or in any way distressed by the activity in her diaper (which is unusual). I go to take her out and she's had a blow out! I feel like we've had our first milestone in diaper changing now. I'm all too familiar with blow outs considering the number of years I've worked with children in diapers and so with her I took it all in stride. I suspect that if Pat had been home, he'd be having a flashback to when our nephew B was younger and it came burbling out the back of his pants.

So I'm currently running a load of laundry that consists of my jeans, Holly's onesie, the towel from earlier this morning and the bouncer cover. Strike three! I truly think that Holly was conspiring to get back into the bath tub, because I just stripped her and cleaned her under the tub's faucet. She, of course, had an awesome time back in the water.

Ultrasound Scheduled

We finally have Holly's ultrasound appointment scheduled for this month. She will be heading to Children's Hospital to have an ultrasound done on her hips to ensure that they are still in good alignment and that no damage was done as a result of being breech. This will also give us an excuse to go back and see Grammy and Pah again while in town! Here's hoping for good news in a few weeks after the ultrasound.

In other news - Holly is one month old today! Holy wow! Where did the time go? I can't believe it has been four weeks since her birth. It seems like just yesterday that I was in recovery and that brand new baby was just mere feet away from me being held by whatever visitor was there at the time. I grow more and more in love with my daughter with each passing day!

Happy one month birthday, Kitten, I love you!

Surprise Visits

Last Friday Pat and I decided to make a spontaneous trip with Holly to go see Grammy and Pah. Shortly after Holly was born, I had considered this particular weekend specifically and would have Pat leave me there for the week and he would return to get Holly and me the following weekend. However, considering the setbacks I had with my incision and his hernia, we decided that a week stay with Grammy and Pah could wait until a later date.

So! Short trip instead and Grammy and Pah had no idea that we were coming. I had called them earlier in the day to feel them out and determine what their plans for the weekend were. Pat and I left with our little one in tow around 5:30 that evening and when we were about 5 minutes away, I called Grammy and Pah again to make sure they were still awake (it was nearly 8:00 and although Grammy usually makes it a habit to stay up late, she had been behind on her sleep since helping us care for Holly when she was visiting us). Luckily, they were and as we pulled into the drive, I suggested Grammy turn her porch light on. She, of course, was quite confused until she realized where we were. SURPRISE!

Our plot was a success and we even got to introduce Holly to her Aunt H, Uncle G and cousins P and B. Can't beat that with a stick! She still has some more family members to meet, but there will be another time for that. Her cousins P and B were so delighted to meet her and wanted to hold her. B loved to put his face close to hers and with her wildly swinging fists, she would "get" him to his utter delight. P, on the other hand, was quite content to hold her and hum to her. So sweet!