All dressed up...

Good morning...yesterday went pretty well. The morning did not go as smooth as last week. She might be catching on that once I get out of bed I don't come back so she kept waking up while I was doing stuff and I would have to go back and lay with her. We try not to have her get up before 6:15 otherwise that's really early for her. Today seems to be going about the same, as you can see my post is 40 minutes later then usual. Oh well....I was surprised last week went so smoothly for our wake up routines so this isn't that unexpected. Daycare went well too. When she got up she was a bit fussy so we weren't sure how the day would go but we dropped her off with a smile on her face with Miss Lynn. She had two naps and some swing and baby seat time. Yesterday a new little baby started named Namon. His mom was sad when she dropped him off so today if I see her I will ask how his day went. Othen then that work was as usual. Today, however, I will be going out to lunch with my team at work and Mike will be picking Peanut up and staying with her for about an hour until I get home. Have a happy Tuesday.

Easter Eggs & Bunny Ears

Well here we are again, another Monday. This week starts out with the remnants of our "snow storm" remaining on the ground and the promise of rain most of the week. A brief recap from where I left off last: Friday at daycare went well, if you look at the whole week Friday was probably the hardest on Peanut. She only ate 1.5oz, which isn't very much for her at all. I think she had had it with the bottle and daycare by Friday. When we picked her up it was the only day all week that she fussed on the way home. Most of the weekend we took it easy and stayed indoors for family time. Saturday and Sunday morning we took Easter pictures of Peanut and the family, you will be seeing those all week. The one above is peanut in her Easter bunny ears and dress next to Mrs. Petunia Q. Lamb and yes that is drool all over her chin, no way to photoshop that cuteness out. All in all it was a good weekend. Peanut was a bit off, seemed fussy for nights and some mornings, we are hoping it's just an adjustment to daycare and not the inevitable daycare bug coming home already. Wish us luck with our 2nd week back in the routine....next week will be full time, I don't even want to think about that just yet. Happy Monday!

TGIF

We made it!! It is Friday and I haven't truly appreciated a Friday this much in a looong time. Day #4 of our work/daycare routine went well. Yesterday she played on the floor, did some swing time, read a book, painted with her hands (apparently last time it was just her feet, they are working on a project that will be finished next week) and took two naps. When we got there she was sitting with Miss Missy on the floor playing with her friends Ianna and Hope. The picture you see on the left is from her first day of school. One more day to go and we are home free for the weekend. Our weekend plans include going out to breakfast (our new family ritual), hanging out together, making granola and taking lots of pictures of Daphne, maybe even some Easter themed ones. There is rumor of snow here this weekend, 3-5 inches as a matter of fact. We have decided if it does snow we will ignore it and pretend it is spring (i.e. no shoveling, it better melt fast) by doing springy things indoors. Hope you all have a good weekend, the next post might not be until Monday so see you then!

Fingers & Toes

Happy Thursday everyone! Only 2 full days left until the weekend... Onto the update you have all been waiting for ......drum role.....Day #3 at daycare was again a success! The morning went as planed and we dropped her off to Miss Lynn smiling away. Miss Lynn is the morning person for early drop offs. During the days it's Miss Missy and Miss Shirley. Miss Lynn even commented on what a good baby she was and how she only cried when she was hungry (we decided that might be a small bit of a fib or that she might be hungry a few times in the morning, lol), so that was nice to hear. Then it was off to work for a half day of adult interaction. Nothing too exciting to report from work other then the usual emails and projects. We left to pick her up at 11:30 and when we got there she was NAPPING in her CRIB! We had to wake her up to go home even so that was incredible. And her report card for the day listed swing time, tummy time, and PAINTING (they finger paint with their hands and feet and take pictures). How adorable is that?! We haven't seen the art or pictures yet but when we do we will post them. I was so excited she painted that when we got home I checked her fingers and toes for a small remnant of the glorious finger paint that might be left behind but found none, now I will have to wait for the pictures. They also said she loves talking to them in the mornings and will talk and talk and talk. She is working on the bottles still, she took 4 oz yesterday but all in 1 oz increments, but that will come with time I suppose. She is taking them much better for Mike now which is a big relief for him. We are off for Day #4, I'll report back tomorrow. Enjoy your day...

Daffodil Melon Top

Good morning, for those of you that note the time of the posting don't worry, I am not up at 3:30am posting instead of getting those much needed extra hours of sleep. For some reason the blog site shows that this posted then but really it is 5:30am here (I realize that doesn't sound much better) and I am up for work. Day #2 at daycare was a success as well. We dropped her off happy and picked her up in the same smiling state. At the end of each day they give us "report cards" telling us everything she did. On her report card yesterday she had 3 diaper changes, drank 3oz, had 2 - 35 min naps (impressive) in her crib (even more impressive), some swing time, some tummy time, and some rocking in the chair with Miss Missy and talking to her time. The report cards are now on our fridge with some added stickers from mom. We are hoping Day #3 is just as good. Work on the other hand is no where near as exciting, at this point I think I would even be willing to wear a diaper if it got me those 2 - 35 min naps! But I am assuming it's just going to take some time to get back in the groove of things and the ginormous urge I have everyday to leave and never come back will slowly shrink down to a minor urge to leave at the end of the days and on weekends, fingers crossed. Off to conquer another day, wish us luck and come back tomorrow for details. Happy Wednesday (Hump Day)....only two days left after today!!!!

First's

Yesterday was the first day of many new things for all of us. The morning routine very well for our first day, I hope everyday goes that well but I know we are bound to have a few glitches here and there. Peanut woke up at 6:15 (thank goodness she didn't wake up at 5am) and was happy and ready for her day. She was smiling when we dropped her off for daycare so that was good for everyone. I went back to work for my first half day back in almost 4 months. It was good to be back and see people but the same old on the work side of it. I welcomed back with a very messy desk due to my quick departure as well as 641 emails, most of which I decided to instantly delete. The day didn't go as fast as I expected, I found my self checking the clock often and waiting for it to be over and it was only a half day. Mike called for a Peanut update around 9:00 and they said she had done the swing and they were just heating her a bottle so that was good news, but also daunting since we knew the dreaded bottle monster was next. We left work at 11:15 to pick her up. When we got there she was having another bottle and fussing a bit with it but she had drank 3.5oz, which is a lot for her from a bottle so that's good. All in all they said she had a good day, even a 20min nap in her crib. So we are off to start day #2 and for some reason I think I am more nervous then yesterday...

Last Weekend....

Well this is the last weekend before a whole new routine takes effect. We have had a busy week with daycare visits, chiropractor and vaccines but we are finally at weeks in and a bit sad that we have to change up what we have been doing for the past 3+ months. This weekend we will be having a lot of family time and getting some stuff done around the house to make sure we can all survive this coming up endeavor of returning to work and going to daycare. Daphne is doing good, the cold has mostly cleared up except for the occasional nose suck needed here or there and she is getting bigger everyday (she now weighs 12lbs 10oz...well on her way to almost double her birth wieght). I almost caught her rolling over on video yesterday but she just teetered on the brink and decided she wasn't ready for the world to see the rolling over yet. We've had some great weather so we've enjoyed some time on the back porch and Daphne got to meet our neighbors so that was nice. We are looking forward to the spring weather and can't wait to get outside and make some trips to Marquette. Hope you all have a great weekend, ours will be a bit bittersweet but we look forward to our new routine and getting back into the swing of things.

Final Countdown...

Well in exactly one week Peanut will be going to daycare....and I will be back at work, part-time for two weeks then full time. She is doing really well, still has a bit of a stuffy nose but seems to be getting better and her cough is almost gone. This is a busy week for us, tomorrow we are going to visit an in home daycare we are considering, Wednesday is Chiropractor day and Thursday we are visiting the daycare center and getting some vaccines. Friday is our last at home day so we are going to do nothing but fun stuff. She is getting so big, she sucks her fists and thumb all the time now and can hold her head up really well. She loves swinging in her swing and can almost roll over from back to front all by herself. She is talking all the time and smiling constantly. It's been really nice here for the past couple days (50's) so this past weekend I attempted to go on a walk with Daphne and my friend, Allison. Well long and loud story short, Daphne does not like to be bundled up or wear a hat and isn't so sure about the stroller yet. Allison does not have kids yet and I'm pretty sure our excursion put them off for a bit longer...we did manage to get a little walk in after the yell fest so at least we all got some fresh air!

Massage Day

After the big night out on Saturday Sunday was a day of relaxation and baby massage with Greta, John and Olivia. Pam, a certified infant massage therapist, came over Sunday morning and we all learned baby massage. They did great considering it lasted 1 1/2 hours. They loved it and both fell asleep promptly after. The rest of the day was spent relaxing and hanging out with Mom and Dad. We did have to take a food break (John and Olivia below)

Peanuts Big Adventures...

Well this post is now a week late due to the cold bug that has invaded Peanut =( She is stuffy and has a little cough so we have been hanging out close all week...but that will be another post. Last remaining weekend adventures need to be documented first.....Saturday morning we decided since Friday night went so well we would venture out to breakfast at one of our favorite sit down restaurants (and not the usual coffee house where you pay for the food first, so this was a big adventure). She did great, we saw some of our friends there who had just finished and they held her while we ate, she was happy and smiley...Saturday afternoon Grandma and Grandpa Soetaert came to visit for our first big night out by ourselves. We went to a benefit concert while Peanut stayed with with her first "babysitters" (aka Grandma and Grandpa). We owe them a HUGE thanks because nighttime is not her shining moment and nighttime without Mom and Dad is rough. Everyone did really well though, considering if was her first night without us, she even took a bottle for Grandma =)

Busy, Busy Baby - Friday

Friday was a visit to Koher to let everyone we work with meet Daphne and a return visit to the Chiropractor. The Kohler visit went really well considering all of the people we carted her around to see. We were there about a half hour then she started getting tired so we left quickly, 30 foot ceilings really tend to echo baby screams!! The Chiropractor was great, Mike came with us this time so that was fun. Daphne smiled the whole time she was adjusted again and Dr. Cindy said she has already made improvements from last time. She also gave Daphne a little onsie that says "I'm well adjusted thanks to my chiropractor". Then to top Friday off our friends, John and Greta (who also had a baby 1 week after Daphne was born, her name is Olivia), invited us to go out to dinner. We were brave and accepted the invite even though any other time we have been out with them so far Olivia sleeps in her car seat soundly while Daphne needs bouncing, patting and walking around so the idea was a little frightening...friday night dinner, busy restraunt, baby that gets fussy at night and doesnt fall asleep in her car seat, third outing of the day.....So we left on our third big adventure and believe it or not she fell asleep in the car!!! We were amazed because she stayed asleep as we were seated even, and lo and behold, Olivia woke up first and it was her crying that woke Daphne. Both babies were then out of the car seats and we turned into the entertainment for the restraunt that night (it's a louder family restraunt at least). They took turns crying and talking as we passed them back and forth between mom and dad the whole time thinking we would make a great example to film for highschoolers and why to wait to have babies. But all in all Daphne did great and we were very impressed...she is changing so much day to day!