You Are My Sunshine

{not quite 2 months}
The smiles have begun and they are glorious! They started at just about 6 weeks, and now they are getting more frequent and somehow even more beautiful. You enjoy withholding them, though, and making complete fools out of mommy & daddy, who will do anything for even a slight smirk. But the gummy grins are the best.

Daddy taught you a new trick the other day - sticking out his tongue and willing you to do the same. It's cute so I don't resist too much.. Although when he let you lick his lollipop the other day I saw a glimpse of years to come and am preemptively exhausted (and fearful). I'm sure we have a few AFV entries in our future. As long as they don't involve injuries I'll be ok. 

You woke up with a startling cry the other day and I was scared out of my mind. It hurt my heart! Not sure I'll be able to handle any real pain, so you'll just have to leave the house in football pads until you're 18, k?

nobody move! alright, it's ok. i'm ok.

You are eating well from the bottle, but mommy made the mistake of starting up her medicine again and it decreased the supply, so we've promptly icksnayed that and are trying to get back on track. Though there's a slight chance you'll end up with a little brother or sister more quickly than planned..


Starting to work on your hand-eye coordination. You'll reach up and grab things and bat at daddy's face, and your fav action is pulling the paci from your own mouth. Silly girl. 


Daddy is still able to change your diapers (yes even the dirty ones!) because they currently smell kind of like buttered popcorn. Which is a little weird, but we'll take it. However, he is no longer going to be allowed to pick out your clothes, since I discovered when I went to wash your Halloween costume that you may be able to wear it NEXT year, as it is the 6-12 month size. 


But the biggest news to date? The past 3 nights you've slept "through the night" - meaning at least 6 hours in a row. Woot! What what my baby is awesome. 

"seriously? swaddling is bad now?"

my little glowworm.

My Boo

{5 weeks}
Your main form of communication right now is by grunt, which momy & daddy take to mean you're having tummy issues and are unable to go potty. Poor baby! We asked the doctor about this and of course he says it's normal and there's not much we can do. That led us to try several OTC and natural remedies. My favorite is the "Colic Calm," which has a lovely tar-like color that totally turns your mouth black so you look rather goth when we administer it. And if some dribbles out, you look like super-zombie-baby. (Don't worry, we took pictures).  :)

You don't like us to get anything done (preferring instead to feign sleeping for 15 minutes and then call for us - wide awake). You heart your paci and have a hard time calming down without it. You still love walking outside, which we try to do as often as possible with the fall weather being so nice right now. You're eating well - sometimes even from the bottle (yey!) and actually even started on the 2-hole nip (something we discovered after a couple 40-minute feeding sessions with the single-hole one).


You're not so much into us reading for you just yet, but we try to do it anyway. Oh and sadly, you do have the baby acne.


Milestones in the past couple weeks:
• You keep your own head up pretty darn well, and can follow objects we move in front of you.
• Daddy is convinced that you're partial to Journey because you watch his phone when it plays (don't tell him, but you watch it for Britney, too).
• You flail your arms wildly about when you're surprised or scared. It's pretty cute.
• You definitely recognize mommy and daddy's voices.


Daddy has been coming home for lunch to see you, and we've already attended our first party together (Aunt Loryn's birthday in Winston). That was at 4 weeks! You did pretty good - daddy fed you, Aunt Jaclyn rocked you to sleep, and you stayed asleep most of the rest of the time.


This past weekend, mommy & daddy went solo at Uncle Jay's 30th birthday party while you stayed with Granny Mac. She said you did great. But I have a confession: that wasn't the first time we left you with the grandparents! Mommy & daddy did get out for a 1-hour date when you were 2 weeks old, and you stayed with Mimi Sally & Zade Adam when we celebrated Aunt Jenna's first home purchase when you were 3 weeks.


Got you 2 princess dresses & a bunch more books (though I don't know why... haha) at our neighborhood garage sale this weekend. Love you so much. Still waiting on that smile...  :)

Keeping Up

{week 3}
Tomorrow marks 3 weeks for you. Holy crap time does fly! At this point, you are entranced by the fan (even when it's not moving). And you have a favorite window in the den that you constantly stare at. Your umbilical stump came off at 16 days, and we promptly gave you a real bath - which I think you actually kind of enjoyed (yey!!). The whale tub works great, though you seem to like spitting up as soon as we finish. You have been doing so more often lately, but the grandmas tell me this is normal. However, you're also straining like you have to poo but can't whenever you're awake and in the middle of the night - which is likely compounded when you're on your back.  ... so we just hold you most of the time. I'm sure this would be frowned upon in most every parenting book and behavioral guide, but we just cannot stand to see you upset. Sue me. 

Where did I put those instructions?

{13 days old}
I am watching you right now in your carseat panting and grunting - obviously trying to expel something from your hind end.. You stay asleep though (thank you for that) so mommy will still get her shower in this morning. It's the small victories. 

You have currently taken to imitating animals, as we often hear little dog-like whimpers or the occasional cat hiss emanating from your tiny sleeping frame. Daddy is very good at soothing you; when he was home with us for the first week I would peek into the nursery during your "wake"time and see him reading to you with tears running down his cheeks. And every now and then I catch a few notes of him singing you a song. Now normally mommy is not the biggest fan of daddy's vocals, but he sings to you so sweetly it melts my heart. 

I think you view mommy as more of a feeding trough. But nursing is a comfort to you as well. We're attempting to implement the principles of Babywise and get you on a schedule, but I fear we're failing miserably. You have already displayed resistance to self-soothing (preferring to be held in order to fall asleep), and I'm pretty sure you've begun to snack-feed. Not good. But we're trying. I just want to give you "the gift of nighttime sleep" here babygirl. Work with me.  :)

Fast Forward on Life

{peas porridge hot; peas porridge cold; little baby ansley-bop 9 days old!}


So you've been in our lives now for just over a week and it's gone by so fast. I can understand why everybody we see tells us to enjoy it because you'll grow up quickly. I find myself taking tons of pictures and staring at you while you sleep or eat because I just don't want to miss anything. Speaking of pictures, we have your very first photo shoot tomorrow with an old friend of mine from high school who is a very talented photographer. I'm sure she'll capture you sleeping - as that is presently your fav activity, but maybe we'll get an awake shot or two.


You love to put your hands on your ears and up by your face when you lay on my lap it's the cutest thing. You really are just so incredibly beautiful. The biggest gift I've ever gotten. I love you little one.


[The results; courtesy of Lindsey Turner Photography]:
You are SO beautiful!!!  :)

And.. ok. Since I started this blog with a nursery rhyme of sorts, I think now may be a good time to mention that daddy and I have recently learned that we for real do not know the correct words to.. like.. ANY.. nursery rhymes or songs. While I like to substitute "doo do do doo do do doo doo doo," daddy is far more adventurous and will make up his own lyrics to finish them off. This is uniquely humorous when it's a well-known rhyme. My favorite has been "Three blind mice, see how they run, they all ran after the farmer's wife, she cut off their tails with a BUTCHER's knife, did you ever see such a HORRIBLE sight as three blind mice." 

Poor little mice never did anything to anybody. Plus they were blind. Why is that so horrible daddy? Why are you hating on those handicapable little meeces? What did they ever do to you? Wow, that went too far...

The other day, daddy was singing along with the radio and "blinded by the light" happened to be playing. It was stuck in his head for a while, so he would bust it out at random intervals to serenade you pretty much all week. However, as I listened a bit more closely to his trilling, I realized he was singing to you "bliinded by the liiight; wrapped up like a douche... another rumor in the night." 

Ummm, no. Those are not the correct words to that verse. In fact, douche is not a good word at all, baby. Please do not use it in a sentence. Mommy was pretty sure that the band did not intend for it to even sound like that. But to make matters worse, when I confronted your father about his inappropriate lyrics, he insisted that they were correct and continued singing them to you the remainder of the week.

(After which, with the help of google, I shed some light on the correct adaptation of the song).

Who writes the line "revved up like a deuce" in a song though, really? 

Douche.

[Just kidding. Really don't utter that word, despite mommy & daddy's excessive usage...please?]

Little Angel

Disclaimer: This and several of the posts before and after are just snippets of life shortly after Ansley blessed us with her awesomeness. They are copied from a journal I kept on my phone, through a program called "Total Baby" - one the most useful apps ever created (imho). It also houses stats, doc appointments, sleeping and bath schedules, and (cue choral music) helps you keep track of nursing/feeding frequency and duration. Anyone who's had and b-fed a baby will echo my sentiment that this, my friends, is magic.

--

You are just so flipping adorable! I can't get over how attached I am to you and you've only been here a few short days. I think Jon said it best that the reason it's so different with a baby is that you love them instantly. The bond is there from the beginning. I even felt protective of you right away. And with a partner, it takes time to develop - no matter how strong it becomes. 

It's amazing, though. How can I not look at Jon now and think what an incredible gift he gave me / that we made for each other? I feel closer to him now than ever and that is a hard thing to accomplish.

Speaking of daddy - not only has he been so helpful with you (changing diapers, positioning you for feeding, distracting/holding you so I can do things myself), but he's been very attentive to mommy's needs as well. He's drawn me baths, gotten me food, and even made a special trip to Sonic for a huge bag of my favorite soft ice like the kind they had in the hospital.

Yeah, there are some hard parts and not everything is perfect or comes naturally of course, but right now I am loving this babycation. Spending time with our new family is such a gift from God.

*I think you have a few other admirers, too..
(The grandparents, aunt Jenna & uncle B were also there constantly, and I'm sure you'll see the thousands of pictures you took with them so I won't repeat that here). 


Some of your early visitors: 

your godmother, aunt Heidi

aunt Jaclyn (look! there's Jake in her tummy/natural boppy)

uncle chad and brooklyn came to see you after we got home, too.

uncle Jay's not too sure yet, but aunt Jennifer is smitten

(sometimes before men have their own babies they're a little afraid of holding other babies, despite the promises that you won't break  ;)

aunt loryn

(uncle lee was sick, so you didn't get to meet him right away)

aunt Marisa (with Nora Kate hiding/just getting started in her belly!)

uncle nick. he lives in charleston now (it's actually June 2010), 

but we're trying to keep in touch.

To The Doctor

{4 days out}


Our first doctors' appointment and we're already late. Well I can't say it's not a Stevenson thing to do, but we really did think it was @ 12:30, not 12:15...

You have the sweetest face & little "bird mouth." We are absolutely in awe of you and everything you do. You currently love falling asleep while feeding and screaming during diaper changes or any type of disrobement (sure that'll change/reverse eventually :)  You much prefer sleeping on someone's chest to lying on your back, but I'm going to assume that just means you have an extra-affectionate personality... Or you're a baby & it's comforting..


You do seem to do well in your carseat, though. Sleeping the whole way; gosh you're cute. I could just sit & watch you sleep for hours. Well I guess I do.  :)

The doc says today you are 6 lbs, 7 oz and 21.5" (don't think you've really gained a half-inch in 4 days, but maybe you pointed your toes for this measurement.. ;) and slightly jaundice—aka yellow. We have an appointment to recheck your bilirubin in 2 days. Sadly, this requires a heel prick, which if they continue to do may result in mommy getting a pacemaker because my heart goes crazy at any sign of distress from you. I hope they don't think it's weird if I practice random lamaze breaths whenever you get a shot.