Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Some of my favorite things...

There are a couple of really cute things Violet does.  I'm trying to document these things before she outgrows them.  The first is her "milk drunk" face.  After drinking a lot of milk, well you guessed it, she looks sort of drunk.  It's super cute and super funny.

This is a good example.



Another is the her startle reflex.  When she is asleep and is touched or hears a loud noise, she exhibits this reflex.  It goes away in a few months but it's so hysterical. 
I hope to get more and better startles on video.  It's hard not to induce it for fun.

In terms of news, Eric's good friend Jeff visited.  He's expecting his own child in a few months so we loaded him up with pointers and warned him of the level of decibels of the crying.

 
As you can tell, Violet was really excited to meet Jeff.

In other news, the ultrasound of Violet's heart was normal which is a relief.  In terms of development, she's more alert and growing much bigger.  She outgrew some of her first clothes this week.  She also tends to cry if she isn't held which pretty much prevents me from doing much of anything during the day.  In terms of sleeping, we are still waking up about every three hours at night.  Ah, but it's a labor of love.

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Professional newborn pics

Violet's photos from week 3 are ready.  The link is only good for one week so look quickly.

Go here:
http://www.sandyheit.com/

Go to the website.  Then go to the client section.  The password is Violet.

She's already so much bigger then in these pictures!

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

V on video

My how she's grown!
Video from the first week home:
And video from today (excuse mom's lack of editing ability and just turn your head sideways).
She is five weeks tomorrow.  Craziness.  Hopefully next time the video will be upright.

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Plumping up!

So Violet discovered her lungs this week.  The first three weeks of her life, she pretty much slept and looked cute.  We marveled at what a good baby we had.  And then the fourth week hit.  She still sleeps and looks cute, but when she's awake, her first impulse is to cry.  And what a cry she has!  It's been a crash course in trying to make that cry go away--a lot of rocking, feeding, singing.  So far the best we've found is to load her in the car seat and take her for a drive.  She's usually out in 30 seconds.  One night after a full hour of extended crying, I started crying too.  It wasn't pretty.  Eric and I call her a demon baby.

Violet's ultrasound for hip dysplasia came back as normal.  She had her one month exam with her doctor today.  She now weighs 8 pounds 12 ounces and is 22 inches.  Wow!  The newborn diapers are getting a little tight in the legs.  She's developed super pudgy thighs and cheeks.

On today's physical exam, the doctor heard a heart murmur.  She thinks it's likely benign, but we have an appointment with a pediatric cardiologist at the end of the month to have her heart ultrasounded.  In terms of specialists, she will have seen a dermatologist, radiologist, and cardiologist.  Luckily so far everything has turned out well.

In terms of developmental changes, in the last week or so Violet's had improvement/development of her vision.  She now makes eye contact and will follow people her eyes.  She also seems to have figured out her hands a little bit.  She likes to use the to whack things she doesn't like.  It used to be that when she was done eating, she'd spit out the bottle.  Now she often whacks it with her hand to let us know when she's done.

The doctor said she should start smiling in the next couple of weeks and she should be able to track people from across the room within the next month.  With all the screaming, I could use a some smiles around here.

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Violet had a busy third week of life.  She met Aunt Marla and Uncle Merrill for the first time (although she slept through their visit).

One of my closest friends Jenny came to visit and meet Violet.  She knitted Violet an "umbilical hat" which is supposed to look like an umbilical cord.
 Violet had a photo shoot on Wednesday for some professional photos.  We should get to see the proofs in two weeks.  Even though she slept through most of the shoot, she was still exhausted afterwards.
 Next week should be a busy one with two doctors appointments (one for a hip ultrasound to check for hip dysplasia often seen in breech girls and her one month check up) and surely more visits.

And speaking of handmade gifts.  One of my best friends Kirsten made a beautiful quilt for V.  If you look closely you can see Psycho Buff Kitty and Grey Cat in the quilt.

It's awesome and I can't bring myself to "give" it to Violet until she's old enough not to soil it.  So it stays on the wall for now.