October 29, 2008

Carmen is doing well this week! She seems to be a little more tuckered out in the evenings...I would imagine it is from the excitement at daycare. Alisa says that she really enjoys watching the kids, and has done a lot of cooing & talking...which Mommy & Daddy are very sad about missing. :( I'm kinda sad in the mornings, get to work & am preoccupied, & ready ready ready to see her after work!

I've lost count how many nights in a row she has slept through the night - isn't that FANTASTIC!!!!! I would say we're probably at about 10 days. We're in the midst of changing the feeding times, etc. but we just figure it out as we go. She will need to start going to bed earlier since we are getting her up about 6:45 am to eat before she goes...the down side to that is it cuts into the few hours that we have with her in the evenings.

Here is a pic with Alisa on Carmen's first day.



Brian & I sat and talked to Carmen tonight for a bit before bath time. Here's some videos & pictures. She wasn't really fussing, more just complaining about being tired. It was pretty cute. She still digs her baths.

October 28, 2008

Yesterday we dropped Carmen off at her first day with Alisa. I only cried 3 times before noon! Carmen did send me text message yesterday morning (well, Alisa did). It was a cute little picture of her and a message that said "Mommy I miss u, I'm having a good day!" Yes, I fought off crying a 4th time! I called to check on her around lunchtime only to hear a perfect report. Alisa said she'd been an angel...putting herself to sleep for naps (thanks Daddy for your hard work last week!), watching the other kids, reading, & just being happy. Carmen did find the ceiling fan in Jaren's room (Alisa's son who is almost 2)...it is a colorful fan. I'm sure she's wondering why she doesn't have one of those cool things! She slept 7 hours last night, so she's still doing well with through the night. Can't complain about 7 hours but of course like the 10 hour stretches better. :)

She came home pretty happy last night, she was a good baby even through her normal fussy time.

It's a real treat each morning when I get a smile or two before I leave for work.

October 26, 2008

Good Girl Carmen has been sleeping good still!!! Friday night she slept through the night again, last night she did 7 hours then up to eat. I think we're at about 75% of the last 7 days at sleeping through the night. Yeah! :) Tomorrow she starts daycare so an all new routine will begin. Kinda excited, kinda not!

Mama & Papa Link came to visit this weekend. It was a nice relaxing weekend. Carmen has discovered the ceiling fan in the last few days. She will lay on the bed and watch it for a long time. Tonight when I picked her up, she was still looking up & trying to look back to watch it...even when I took her in the other room. Martha took her in front of the armoire mirror, she spotted the fan...and here's the result of that finding...

Just a cute clip to show you just how relaxed she can get when sleeping!

The picture of Carmen in the Boppy...we were laughing at how she was sitting. I took the cover off her and this is how she was. Feet perfectly together (with the Mary Jane socks) and knees pushed out. I think Mama & Papa enjoyed their Carmen time...and she showed them a few of her tricks. :)

October 23, 2008

Last night was the 2nd night in a row that Carmen slept 10+ hours...yes 10 hours straight! Wahoo!!!! She didn't nap great yesterday so she was probably tired from that. Yesterday was her first trip to the hardware store. And today she's visiting KDOT and Huhtamaki (where we work). :) Carmen & Dad have been busy!

Yesterday morning I was lucky enough to have about 5 minutes with Carmen (before my ride to work came) and she made my morning. She was smiling & cooing...great way to start the day! Here's a little clip from last night.

October 21, 2008

Picture 1 - crashed out after a bottle. Picture 2 - Carmen still loves her hands. She holds them together a lot, especially when it's almost time to eat.

I have survived 2 days of work and Brian has survived his first 2 days with Carmen! :) It was nice to be back among my work friends, even though I missed Carmen lots & lots!! Today Brian took Carmen to Alisa's, where she will start daycare on Monday...just to try to get her acclimated a little. Though I know she'll receive much love from Alisa, it will be another hard adjustment!

She slept through the night Sunday night - from 9 pm to 5:30 am. That was the 3rd night in a week! Last night she slept until 3:30, still pretty good for a 6 week old!

New things for Carmen. She is kicking her legs & waving her arms a lot more, especially under the mobile. She is talking & cooing more all the time. She is holding her head up better. Her legs are getting stronger - she pushes off. And here's a clip of how well she is following things with her eyes. I was holding a musical seahorse that's got a glowing belly. She also follows Mommy with her eyes, which is quite annoying to Daddy when he's trying to get her attention. :)

October 19, 2008

Fun weekend! Lori, Haley & Austin came Friday. My best friend Monica came to visit on Saturday.

We had a fun photo shoot with Carmen on Saturday, she was quite entertaining.


Carmen & Aunt Lori. Lori was trying to get a picture with both of them looking at the camera. We had to delay the picture a bit because Carmen had something different in mind. She kept turning around to look at Lori, all she wanted to do was talk! Here's a little video clip.

Cute sneezes!

We were all cracking up at this look that Carmen kept giving Austin. She just kept doing it - and the more she did, the harder we laughed.

Monica showing us a new way to relax (and burp) Carmen.

Well, tomorrow's the big day. I go back to work and Brian stays home with Carmen (for a week). Please pray for both of us this week as we try to adjust. Carmen will start daycare on the 27th with Alisa, a friend from church. I know she'll be in good hands, it's just an adjustment! I've loved the last few weeks with her (the first 4 were pretty rough for several reasons), she changes by the day.



In the 2nd picture you can see that her hair is growing. It sticks up most of the time...just makes it cuter!

October 16, 2008

YEAH FOR CARMEN!!!!! Last night was another night of sleeping 8 hours! We were so excited...and of course are hoping for a 3rd night. We can't complain either way, she is a pretty good sleeper. She has been doing much better the last few days, she seems to be feeling better and have the grouchies a lot less. She has been napping great again.

Patti Lynch came to visit us last week. She took some pictures that are above. Patti got a kick out of her Mary Jane socks that Shar gave her. They look like little shoes. They're a hoot! And we have them in several colors...funny story about that. I always wash the clothes, Brian folds, I put away. So I went to put away Carmen's clothes - all of these socks were in the pile. There was a blue sock with the green sock, pink was with the purple. He said he had the lights low when he was folding & they all looked the same. :) We chuckled! I didn't realize how long my hair had gotten until I saw this photo.

These are from yesterday. I now have the Chariot (jogger) all set up for Little Miss to go with me. We've been walking in it the last 2 days & will go on the first run tomorrow!!! You can just barely see her in there. It has the screen on front, then the cover that keeps out wind/rain/snow, sides are tinted, safety harness that's about like her car seat except more cushioned - it is quite a smooth ride. It's so easy to push! I love it already!

October 15, 2008

After 4 days of taking irregular naps (I guess irregular to her) , Carmen was wiped out enough to sleep all night! She slept 8 hours straight and is back down for another 2.5 hour stretch. Yahoo!!!!

Mema & Pepa have been here since Sunday. They've been helping me out by watching Carmen while I do things that need to be done before I go back to work on Monday. We took these pictures yesterday. I absolutely just love the last one where she's smiling really big.

October 13, 2008

Pretty cute facial expression huh? She is smiling more & more and changing facial expressions.


Carmen enjoys time in the bouncy seat. When she's awake, she checks out the sun & the bug that hang down. Here's a clip of staring down the bug.

Mema & Pepa are here visiting, they've really been helping me out by taking care of Carmen while I put away maternity clothes, go to the chiropractor, the gym, and SHOPPING!! Wahoo...now if only I were shopping for smaller sizes vs. bigger!! :) Such is life!

Mema was trying to make something to eat and she put Carmen down on the counter. WHO KNEW we'd find a new place to occupy her. Watch this clip....

Carmen has - for some reason - not been taking good naps since Saturday. She should be taking about 1-1/2 hour naps between each feeding, right now she's probably averaging 20 minutes. Makes for a long day for a little girl...and a fair amount of cranky time because she's so tired! Not sure why it's changed, but I hope it changes back quickly!!!

October 11, 2008

Here is a picture of the one of the few naps that Carmen took today. Rough afternoon for Little Miss. This morning she woke up so happy, then the three of us laid on the floor and she talked & watched us. We did that for probably 30 minutes, then it was naptime. Apparently that was too much stimulation because it was all downhill from there! She just didn't nap well. We went back to our resource, Babywise, which indicates when they're fussy, it's time for a nap which may mean some times of crying. So we learned a few things today and we'll need to start adjusting naptimes so that she gets consistently good naps.

Yesterday we went to Wal-Mart. She was actually awake for a good part of the shopping. She was just looking at the lights & hangin' out. (We went to pick up some groceries & some Selsum Blue, to try to help the cradle cap/dandruff.) Then it started to happen...I was going to be one of "them" - the person w/ the screaming child. So I picked her up out of her car seat, held her for a few minutes. Pushing a cart while holding a baby isn't easy but doable. It didn't take long and she was out. So back in the seat she went & had a good nap.

The Dr. gave specific instructions to not let the Selsum Blue get in her eyes. So I had the idea to use a Qtip & do her eyebrows while she was sleeping vs. in the bath (you have to leave it on 5 minutes). A blue unibrow...she'll love me for this.

She had great bath time last night. We made it nice & toasty in the bathroom. She laid in her little mesh seat like she was in a lounge chair at the beach. It was fun for all of us! Sorry no photos, it's hard to take photos and give her a bath. Funny how bath time uses two adults for one 10 lb baby!

1 Month Check Up

Good report from Dr. Morrison! Yeah!!!

9 lbs 15 oz
22.5 inches long

Ok, at birth she supposedly was 21.5". At her one week she was 19 3/4". Someone mismeasured. I think 3" would be a significant amount of growth for 3 weeks, that's an inch a week. So maybe she was 21.5" long at birth?!

She's gained almost 2 lbs since our last visit (when she was a week old). He said she's just perfectly healthy & looks good. The baby acne is perfectly normal & does better left untouched. The cradle cap we're going to try some Selsum Blue but just be EXTRA careful that it doesn't get in her eyes. They have prescription stuff but he said the SB is effective & cheaper.

The best thing about the appointment...wasn't him saying she was the perfect patient. It was how happy she was when we were there. We had a better experience at the scale this time. She really got into the talking and she did lots of cooing!! She was smiling and just happy as could be. I SO wish I would have taken my camera!!! I'm hoping she'll have some coo/talk time with Brian soon so he can see it. It's so sweet when babies do that!!!!

Our friend Hollie was in the waiting room as we were leaving. She was dressed up as a Punk Rock Girl (something at the High School). Carmen really looked her over, she had some pretty pink hair and candy striped fake eyelashes.

Next month's checkup...shots. : I think Dad needs to take her to that checkup!!!

Little Miss is completely sacked out in my arms which is making it pretty hard to type. I think we'll go outside to greet Daddy who should be home any minute!

October 9, 2008

Lilly seems to be more comfortable with Carmen and more sensitive. The other night we gave Carmen a shower (I mean bath, I've got to start proof reading what I TYPE!) It was a little too close to feeding time for Carmen to have a good time in the bath. Her focus was on eating, not bathing so she was vocalizing her opinion. We had the door shut to the bathroom. Lilly was standing outside the door crying too, as soon as I opened the door she ran in & looked around, checking things out. Then she followed us into Carmen's room, still crying (I mean the cat, but Carmen was a little too). Maybe it was just coincidence, but sure seemed like Lilly was concerned with Carmen's cry (which did sound a little elevated compared to normal).

I just realized that I DO have a way to get video onto Carmen's page easily!

Every morning after she eats, to keep her awake after eating she watches the mobile. I am not the world's best videographer yet but hope you enjoy!

Last night she slept from about 9:30 to 3:30 then 4:30ish to 7:30 so just one feeding during the night! Wahoo! :) I'm anxious for her one month checkup today! She has cradle cap now also so I've been researching home remedies for that & the baby acne...just to see if there's something simple we can do that doesn't risk it being worse. Sometimes it's better to just leave these things alone.

I'll update later with Dr. info. :)

October 7, 2008

CORRECTION to the coffee story. Brian said that the cup was actually in his opposite hand, not laying in her seat. So it slopped out of the cup onto her. Last place I saw the cup was laying in her seat...and he decided that wasn't a good idea. He thought the story needed to be corrected. :)

Carmen likes to watch TV. I was watching Dancing With the Stars (2nd time in one week that I've watched TV! Only for about 20 minutes but hey - it's improvement!) She was talking to the TV. Now the debate is on and I hear crying. So she either got bored with the TV (which happens, she likes changes to her environment) or there just isn't enough flashy colors in the boring ole debate!!

October 7, 2008

Night night routine. Dad feeds her a bottle about 9 pm, then reads her a book. She is usually sleeping by the end of the book. Pretty cute, Dad & Carmen! :)

We started listening to the lullabye's from Anna & Alaina around naptime. We're hoping that it helps cut down on the "fighting sleep" that we go through sometimes during the day. She seems to understand the nighttime routine & that it's time to sleep. But she just doesn't want to miss a thing during the day! It is so obvious when she does it (fight) because she's fussing and has the drunken sailor look going on. I'm just thankful she is a good sleeper & eater...you hear horror stories of babies that sleep 1-2 hours at a time. I think routine is the key!!!

October 6, 2008

Thanks Laura of the cute pic from church Sunday! Sunny's onesie has a story to tell...read on.

Let me start by saying that the coffee was cold.

We went to Life Group Sunday evening. We've been trying to not let Carmen take more than an hour to 1.5 hour nap before her bedtime (9 pm). She'd been asleep a while and we decided to try to wake her - lost cause. She was totally zonked out. When we arrived at home, Brian brought in his coffee mug from Sunday morning church with Carmen - meaning he laid the mug in her car seat. (k, I have to make fun of him at this point and say that most people at this point would either know that the mug was empty or check to be sure it was empty before laying it down). When we walked in the door I made the comment that her eyes were open. About 30 seconds later I heard laughing & he called me downstairs to show me WHY her eyes were open.


Silly Daddy!!! Spilled coffee all over her (which her car seat smells like now...it needs a bath too). So Sunny, your onesie came clean but sorry if it smells like coffee. :)


Here's a picture from today. We had a good day - relaxing. This was taken while we were talking. She's so alert when she's awake. We took a nap together (mine was quite short, but worth it!), took a very short walk (then it started raining), watched some Dr. Phil, and I got to change 2 majorly poopy diapers!!!!

Simon still pretty much ignores Carmen, he hardly ever goes into her room. He does; however, get spooked at her things that are on the floor. He approaches with much caution. Lilly seems to be doing better, I've been trying to get back to giving her more attention. She pretends that the glider (in Carmen's room) was bought solely for her to lay on. Silly cat!

October 5, 2008

Carmen has been doing super at night. The last 2 nights she's gone 6 hours between feedings, then the second stretch was 4 hours. Good baby for letting Mom & Dad sleep!!! :)

We went to church today, Laura & Sunny sat with us. Laura wanted to see her so Brian got her out of the carseat. He said she smelled, so of course assumed it was a dirty diaper. No dirty diaper, but the cold air did make Carmen pee all over Daddy, and all over her clothes. So there we are (after church), changing her diaper. I had not gone prepared with all of the proper equipment, so we had to borrow things from Laura. Like her changing pad and a onesie (since Carmen's clothes were soaked!) She did that twice (peed). A funny moment & a learning lesson for Mom & Dad (take all equipment everywhere always).

My Aunt Suzie made this set for her, it's made of silk so it's super soft. She will look darling!

The terrible crying face. Thankfully she doesn't make it very often. Isn't it pathetic?

My friend Daphne gave her this monkey outfit, hat, blanket & stuffed monkey. It's been a favorite of mine, and Daddy's!

This little bonnett cracks me up. It's Carmen's walking bonnett. Too big but keeps the sun out of the eyes!

See how good Carmen is doing holding up her head during tummy time?!? She works so hard! She really isn't cross eyed, just looks like it here. :)

I swear she smiled back at me this morning. She is really starting to get into it when you talk to her, she likes it. She goes back for her one month check up on the 9th. I'll be anxious to see how much she weighs! Her baby acne seems to have flared up a lot more, I know it's normal but I'll still ask the Doc. Some of the red marks I think are scratch marks, she's gotten me a few times & it hurts! I try to file her nails every few days...I hope they don't always grow this fast!!!

She isn't very happy at the moment. She's so close to feeding time & I'd bet Daddy sat down with her vs. walking around (he blames me for that...since I was always walking, running, biking, etc.) So I better go see how I can help out!

October 2, 2008

Not much going on at the Link house. Carmen will be going to stay with my friend Kristy for a few hours today. I have a dentist appointment and didn't figure the hygenist would much care for that distraction while trying to get my teeth cleaned. :) Later we're going to walk over to Tracy Bates, a friend from church, for a delivery and then Leslie & Tracy are to visit tonight. It will be a busy day but adult interaction is good. :)

Carmen has had some fussy times over the last several days, we think it's her tummy. Why don't babies come with a manual? It'd make it easier!!! We gave her a bath last night...other than shivering because the little thing was cold she seemed to enjoy herself.

Time to get back to bed!

Today has been MUCH better for Little Miss! She did good with Kristy...and may have even gotten a little spoiled. She gets to go back to see Kristy on Monday as Mommy has to have a cavity repaired. :( Kristy's husband Scott told me it was dangerous for Carmen to be there...they both commented on what a sweet baby she is. I think Tracy enjoyed our visit...Carmen slept most of the time there. And of course did her normal 'pee right when I'm putting on the new diaper', I swear she only does that when I'm changing her at someone else's house! Thank goodness for the puppy pad under her bum!

Her eyelashes are growing. Yeah! As you can probably tell in the photos, so are her cheeks. She likes music a lot, unless she's just really frustrated she normally quiets down to music. We listen to all kinds...country, christian, rock, and whatever her toys play. I need to get video of her with her mobile especially when she's talking to it...and when she eats. It's funny. She makes all kinds of noises...just ask Tracy who asked if I had not fed her for two days! :)

I ran last night for the first time in months...needed to burn off some energy. Just went 3.5 miles to start but it was great! And beautiful weather! I can hardly wait to take her with me.

Daddy will be happy to hear a good report when he gets home...especially since the last two days I've met him at the door for the hand off!