You Make Me Smile

Last Sunday, (at 5 weeks old) Cambry smiled for the first time - when she was awake! It was a small smile, but she did it several times throughout the day. It was the sweetest thing! Now of course it is my mission to get her to do it again and capture it on camera. She doesn't do it much, usually only 1 or 2 small ones in the morning or when she is on her changing pad. These were all taken on my phone, so not the best quality. What would I do without the iphone camera though? Who has a real camera on hand and ready when the perfect moment strikes? Not me.

Monthly Photos: Month 1

Hi my name is Jana and I can't stop taking pictures of my baby. And then I can't stop staring at them. She is so scrumptious.

I wanted to have monthly photos of Cambry that were cute and fairly consistent. There are so many creative ideas out there for this. Greg found this idea online here and we both thought it was cute and creative. So I ran out the next day and bought a large desktop calendar from Target.

We are a little late on her one month pictures, but hopefully we will keep on top of it for future months. Greg took most of these pictures and once again did a great job. We are still playing around with the editing to see what we like best but will try to keep it consistent from month to month for our top choice.

Of course we couldn't narrow it down to just one, so here are some favorites.

One Month Old

Today Cambry is one month old! She is so precious and I am so in love with her. I love staying home with her. It is challenging and wonderful at the same time.

This is what is going on with her at 1 month...

Size: We don't go back to the doctor until she is two months old so I don't know her current weight or length, but I am guessing she is still pretty big. At her 2 week appointment she was 21 3/4 in. long (98th percentile), 9 lbs. 5 oz. (81st percentile) and head was 14 3/4 in. (83rd percentile). A few nights ago she was laying in her basket all swaddled up and she just looked so long! This measurement isn't very accurate but we thought it made a funny picture.

Her newborn clothes are getting too small so she wears a lot of 0-3 months clothes. Especially since I just started putting her in cloth diapers, which are bulky and take up more room in her clothes.

Likes: Baths, being read to out of the Jesus Storybook Bible, car rides (once we get going, walks (usually), being rocked and held, tight swaddles, being outside

Here she is after bath time. Her hair looks so blonde after it is washed.

Dislikes: Being put in her car seat, not being held, her swing, having a wet diaper on for any period of time

Working on: Tummy time, taking bottles (sometimes successful, sometimes a disaster), using the maya wrap ( I cannot seem to put her in correctly in a comfortable position)

Sleeping: Last night she went her longest stretch yet - 6 1/2 hours between feedings! It was glorious! Usually though her first night time stretch is 4 hours, then 3, then 2 1/2. I can't complain, she is really good at night. She doesn't cry, and goes to sleep fairly easily after feedings, you just have to rock her for a while.

Here is one of her sleepy smiles. Love them.

Eating: She eats about every 3 hours during the day. Sometimes I wonder if she has some sort of heartburn or reflux because during and after some feedings she will just scream and cry. But the majority of her feedings are fine.

I love this girl!

First Few Weeks

Our baby girl is 3 weeks old today! She is so precious and sweet. Here is what is going on with her right now...

She eats about every 3 hours, and she is a good eater.

After she eats she is awake for a bit but is usually fussy. I never really know what is wrong at this point. Gassy? I am not sure, but you can't really just put her down (in a bouncer, play mat, etc) and have her be content. She doesn't cry very long, but she just seems to need to be held or rocked or something until she falls asleep. Then she usually stays asleep until her next feeding.

She does well in the car and usually falls asleep in her car seat after a few minutes. She is like her momma :)

When she starts to dose off to sleep she smiles. It is the cutest thing. Her eyes will be shut and she will smile several times.

(Don't worry, she does not sleep in our bed like this)

She usually likes going on walks. We have gone on quite a few since we have had such nice weather. I can't believe the beginning of January has been so warm! Sometimes she cries when we put her in the car seat in the stroller but usually calms down once we start going.

She likes bath time! She is so cute how she will just lay there and look around while we pour the warm water on her.

After bath time her hair gets a little crazy.

Baby girl is not a fan of bottles. We started introducing a bottle at 1 1/2 weeks. We try to give her one every day or every other day. She fights it, and sometimes acts like we are gagging her, but I think she is starting to get a little better. We have tried several different kinds of bottles and so far the Playtex one seems to get the best results.

She will only take a paci sometimes, and only the soothie kind. She usually doesn't suck on it for very long.

We have gone on several outings and she has done well. Today I made a quick stop at Target and walked around with her in the Baby Bjorn. She fussed a little at first but then fell asleep. It was really nice to carry her around like that.

I love when babies lay frogger style.

So serious.

And that's what we have been up to lately.

Behind the Scenes

Here is the set up for our photo shoot. After doing this, I just kept wondering how do professional newborn photographers do it?? Do they just plan on booking a 4 hour session? There are small windows of opportunities between feedings and if you miss it you have to wait til the next round. At least that's how it was with Cambry.

Step one: Carefully undress sleeping baby in front of a heater without waking her up. Most critical and dangerous step.

If this is the reaction you get before you have gotten even one shot, you are in trouble.

Looking online at newborn photos makes it looks so easy. You just put sleeping baby in any position you want. Propped up hanging out of a bucket? No problem. Laying completely naked on a white blanket without pooping? No problem.

Um, Houston, we have a problem. Diaper removal causes baby to poop and pee on the props and head is too wobbly which wakes baby up.

Wouldn't this little box have been so cute?

Unfortunately, this was the reaction we got as soon as we put her in.

Session fail. No further attempts with this box were taken.

I think this one is precious, even though this face is a sign that our window of opportunity was closing soon.

And that's a wrap.