Week 11 - First Easter!

We celebrated Maude's 11 week birthday and First Easter on the same day.  It was our 3rd anniversary on Monday so we spent the weekend (and into Monday) in Paso Robles.  We got married there three years ago and have been able to go back every year for our anniversary.  This meant that Maude spent her first Easter by going wine tasting with her parents!  Lucky girl.  =) She was also quite thoughtful and had a bouquet of flowers delivered to our hotel room which were waiting for us when we got there.  So sweet!

She did amazingly well traveling.  It took us a few more hours than normal to get out of the house on Saturday morning but once we headed out, she was a great traveler.  She was of course a huge hit wherever we went throughout the weekend.  We loved taking her to Cass Winery where we got married. It was so much fun introducing her to Steve and Alice Cass, the owners. 

Maude is one happy little gal.  It's pretty easy to get a big smile and often a giggle out of her.  Her biggest smiles and laughs are saved for her Daddy, though.  She particularly likes it when he sings to her.  A few weeks ago after being out late, Maude was still awake as I was getting ready for bed.  I sat her in bed with Mike and while I was getting ready for bed, I could hear Mike singing a few lines of a song to her, then I'd hear big giggles from her, followed by laughs from Dad.  He'd then start over and sing the same two lines again and I'd hear the father and daughter laughs.  I could have listened to that forever! 

I don't want to jinx it by typing this, but she's also a great sleeper.  It probably has a lot to do with our very busy weekend and the fact that she's catching up a bit on sleep, but for the past three nights, she's slept for 9-10 hours straight without waking up.  She also takes good naps and almost always falls asleep on her own after I put her in her crib still awake.  She lays there and talks and laughs to herself until she falls asleep.  I've heard that many babies' sleep habits change at 4 months.  Poor sleepers will suddenly start sleeping really well and good sleepers will start waking more.  I'm praying that's not the case for our little one, but we'll see.  It will be not so great timing since that's right when I go back to work.

I have lots of photos this week - we were fairly camera happy while in Paso.

Maude and Stella having one last cuddle before we left for the weekend and they were without each other for a few days.

Easter morning.  She looks like she's trying to pray here!

Maude in her Easter basket.

Maude and Momma in downtown Paso's square.

The Overman family in downtown Paso.

Cute baby, playing a bit coy.

Maude and the owner of Windward Vineyard.  We got lots of pictures of her here.  Other visitors also took pictures of her which they've promised they'll email to us!

Happy Baby!!

Maude and Daddy relaxing in our hotel room after a day of wine tasting.

So happy!

Really happy!

Maude and Momma on the deck at Eberle Winery.  This is where Mike and I got engaged.

Maude and Momma standing under the oak tree where we got married.  This photo was taken three years to the day of our wedding.

Week 10 - Photo Post

The past few weeks have been fairly busy and I just didn't have time to post a blog update.  Maude went to her first Dodger's game last week - she had a great time, even though the Dodger's lost!  She's so much fun right now.  She giggles and coos a lot.  She's really discovered her own voice and loves to hear herself jabbering and making lots of funny noises.  She makes me smile and laugh almost all day.

This weekend is our third wedding anniversary so we're taking our annual trip to Paso Robles, where we got married.  This means that Maude's first Easter will be spent there.  Yes, we will be the parents taking our baby to a winery... on Easter.  I'm sure we'll win some sort of parent of the year award for that.  We did buy her a cute outfit so hopefully I can be a little more on top of things next week and get a photo posted of her in it!

I hope you enjoy these photos for now.

This cracked me up.  One arm and one leg out of her swaddle.

Another very funny sleep position.

Tummy time with her white sun hat.  We were inside, but I think the hat is just too cute.

Hanging with Stella.  I love those little leg warmers - they're called Baby Legs.

Just out of the bath.

Dodgers game.

9 Weeks!

Maude turned 2 months old last week.  We celebrated the day by going to the pediatrician and learning that she had pink eye.  I think she got it from another baby (a week older than her) at our yoga class.  I noticed that he had icky green goopy eyes at our last class.  Just a few days later, Maude started having the same thing in her left eye.  Thankfully the drops we got did the trick and she's absolutely perfectly healthy once again!  And in other great news - neither Mike nor I got the nasty infection.

Each week I can't believe how old our baby is.  I remember being 7 months pregnant and thinking that 2 months until I would have her seemed like forever.  Now that she's 2 months old, it feels like just yesterday that I had her.  I have just a month and a half left of my leave and it really doesn't feel long enough!  I can't possibly imagine not spending all day every day with our little girl.

Mike's parents visited this past weekend.  They had a great time meeting and visiting with their second granddaughter.  Mike's dad had a special talent of making funny faces and noises to make Maude smile! We went out to brunch on Saturday and took advantage of a nice day to take some family photos on our front steps afterward.  Mike's dad has a nice camera and we were able to download the photos onto our computer before they left.  A few of them are attached below.

It's amazing how each week brings something new we learn about Maude.  This week, we found that when she's fussy and there could be nothing wrong (she's dry, full, and well rested), she just likes to be put down and be left alone.  We're not sure if she gets overstimulated or what, but as soon as we put her down, she's all smiles again.  She needs her Maude time.  She is indeed my daughter. 

Maude loves being a 2 month old!

Maude's cow dress and cow diapers.  She's obviously thrilled to be wearing them!

Having Maude time playing with her gym.

Family photo.  I can't express enough how much I love this photo.  I look at it several times a day.

Grandpa, Granny, and Maude!

Our Baby Girl is Nearly 2 Months Old!

Maude is now eight weeks old.  It is truly amazing how much a part of our life she is and it hasn't even been two months.  I would have never expected that spending day after day with no down time and a lack of sleep would be okay, and even enjoyable. 

Last week, I mentioned Maude's talent with projectiles.  I even gave an example via a video of a projectile booger.  (I've heard some thought it was a little too gross - sorry about that!!)  Anyway, she showed off her projectile talents last week, but from the other end.  While changing her diaper one afternoon, she sent a little gift flying at least 3 feet across the room.  It hit the nearby bathroom door and overall, made quite the mess.  This was definitely the grossest, and possibly funniest, part of parenthood so far...

Along with all of the nasty moments in parenting, there are many sweet moments. Mike gives Maude a bottle every night just before bedtime.  We made a playlist of songs the two of them listen to while he feeds her and rocks her to sleep.  One of them is "Lullaby" by Billy Joel which he wrote for his daughter.  Mike shared with me that he dreamed of having a daughter and playing that song to her.  Another song on the Daddy & Maude playlist is Paul Simon's "Father and Daughter" which is one of my favorites.  Watching Mike rock her and sing to her each night absolutely melt my heart. 

Enjoy the pictures from this past week!

Daddy and Maude in her rocker.

Bundled up.  We had some chilly days this week as well as days in the 90s.

Tummy Time!

I'm loving these bows - they're velcro!

Maude and her buddy Pete.  Maude is trying to hold his hand.

Things are going pretty well from Maude's perspective.

Clearly Pete doesn't feel the same way about Maude as she feels about him!