Violet meets the kitty

Violet is becoming increasingly aware of her surroundings.  At the same time, she is beginning to gain some motor skills.  It's fascinating to watch.  She finally really noticed the cats and has learned to pet them.  Psycho Buff Kitty is infinitely patient with her as she tends to grip him and rip out his fur.

 Ignore the background noise of the pump.  ;)


Violet showing off her motor skills by learning to flash.

That could be a useful skill later in life.

And a couple more of V looking cute and sort of punk.  Dad bought this shirt at Target in the one dollar bin.

3 months!

Violet turned three months old yesterday marking the change from newborn to infant.  She grabs things with ease now and smiles all the time.  She'll throw out a giggle here and there. This week she seems to be working on trying to sit up.  I think that will take some time.
I went back to work last week which proved to be a big adjustment to both of us.  I'm really amazed at how quickly she is changing.  You can literally watch her attempt, practice and master a new skill within a week.

First just an adorable picture of a very satisfied Violet, belly full of milk and napping.

And then her three month pictures.  Her face is starting to mature a little.

Jenee Visits

My best friend Jenee visited this week from Hawaii to meet Violet.  She had originally planned to come about 5 weeks ago, but both her and her son Nick came down with the flu 12 hours before she was set to leave.  Lucky for her, because Violet is now a smiling, cooing, well-behaved interactive baby.  Five weeks ago, she was a she-demon sent to earth to destroy us.  Violet is 12 weeks now and just this week she learned to grab things with her hands (it's a work in progress--she misses a lot), she giggles occasionally, and she noticed and became friends with the baby in the mirror.

Out to lunch with Stacy, Jenee and Violet:

I have to admit that Violet projectile vomited on me just prior to this photo.  At least she waited until after lunch.
Hanging out with Jenee and Violet:

And Violet playing:

And just to remind everyone, Violet before:

And the new Violet:

I go back to work on Thursday which will be a big adjustment.  I haven't gone longer than four hours with her in my arms, and that's only when she's sleeping.  I'm not looking forward to the emotions that go along with returning to work.

Baby blues

Look who's talking!

So Violet is way less fussy (okay, maybe not WAY less fussy, but definitely less fussy) and she is passing out huge grins left and right.  I still don't have a good picture of a smile.  She's started "talking" to us with baby talk which is quite fun.  Here's some video of some converations.

A little talk and a little play.

That one was mostly me talking.

Lot's of pictures somewhat out of order.  We got some of our professional newborn pics back from when she was three weeks.  Here are a couple of cute ones.

She was so little then--she's a completely different baby now.

At the end of February, my sister Deanna came to visit.

She brought lots of cute cupcake and hello kitty clothes for Violet.  This girl is going to be so spoiled!

Here's just a few more recent cute photos and video:

Sleeping in a baby straight jacket.

And another cute startle video:

Developmentally, Violet is super more alert.  She is all about eye contact, smiles and talking.  She is pretty good at holding her head up.  She cries a lot less.  She sleeps in 3-6 hour stretches.  She did develop GI issues and the doctor had me cut out dairy from my diet.  I'll give up freedom, sleep, and travel for this child, but giving up cheese and ice cream? It's almost more than I can bear!

Two months old!

Violet is now two months old (as of 3/12/11).  In the last week she has become much more interactive and makes much more eye contact.  She also has tons of smiles!

Sorry, the blogger video does something weird with video from the iphone but it was too cute not to post.

Here's a picture I took the day she turned two months.  She's sacked out!

She's also sleeping better at night.  Instead of every 2-3 hours, she's sleeping 3-4.  Last night she slept six hours!!!  I think that's just a fluke though!

BTW, any iphone techies that can help with the video so it doesn't end up like that, let me know!

She finds her hands!

Wow, Violet is growing by leaps and bounds.  Today was her two month appointment and she weighed 10 pounds 6 ounces!  Craziness.  She got a ton of vaccines today as well.

She's been quite a fussy baby the last few weeks.  She cries if she doesn't have your constant attention and you have to be moving.  You can't just hold her.  It's been exhausting and quite frankly, I wasn't too motivated to update the blog because she's been so fussy.  Word on the street is that it's supposed to improve by around 12 weeks, so only four more weeks to go!  I tell myself that she's fussy because she's bored because she's so smart, but it's just something I say to make myself feel better.

The big thing is last week we started to get big smiles.  Like light up her whole face smiles.  They are few and far between, usually in the morning when you talk to her.  She gave one to the nurse who weighed her today so at least someone else has seen it and I'm not making it up.  It's nice to get a smile once in a while with all the crying around here.  Here is a horrible quality picture of her smile.  Hopefully I can get a good picture sometime soon.

In terms of other development, she is getting much better at holding her head up.  Eric's been working with her on the physical/motor stuff and her doctor said she's as strong as a three month old.  Her hands found her mouth about three days ago and now she constantly has her fingers in her mouth.  She also discovered she has a tongue, and she likes sticking it out and moving it around.  Her vision is also much improved and she very much enjoys watching her mobiles now.

We've had fabulous weather the last few days and she enjoyed a trip to the park as well.

And one last cute video.  Her new favorite place to nap (and mommy's favorite way to get free time) is her swing.

No more doctor appointments for two months.  Hopefully the next update will be full of smiles.