1 Month Old!

On February 24th, we celebrated Amelia's 1-month birthday! I can't believe she's been here that short of time - it feels like she's always been here. We're all still adjusting to life with a newborn (ie, interrupted sleep, increased laundry loads, and things taking a lot longer to accomplish than before), but it's been fun, and we're looking forward to continuing to watch her grow!

 

I got a breast pump about a week ago, and David's been enjoying being able to feed her with a bottle. I'm just jealous because it only takes him 5 minutes to feed her, and it takes me 15.

Amelia likes...

~ cuddling with Mom and Dad

~ looking at faces

~ bath time

~ her "paci"

~ listening to Mom sing songs and read Harry Potter (start 'em early! :) )

~ car rides

~ having her head stroked

Amelia does not like...

~ being awake and alone in her crib

~ having her feet touched

~ having her arms swaddled - she'll break free every time

She's a fairly mellow baby; there's not much she seriously dislikes. Except being hungry - gotta go! :)

Valentine's 2011

I'm sensing that, with a 3-week old baby, posts are going to be very brief and image-saturated. Oh well, it's a miracle that I can type this with two hands while still holding Amelia on my lap. :)

This year for Valentine's Day David and I stayed at home and made dinner. We made spinach and artichoke dip and cranberry pomegranate bellinis...

...stuffed pork chops...

...and molten chocolate cakes with vanilla bean ice cream and raspberries.

Everything was wonderful, especially the drinks! Here's the recipe so you can try it out yourself. David and I made them in a punch bowl and let the lime slices hang out for a while to mix their juice with the other fruit juices, which I recommend doing. We skipped the mint, because I'm not into buying things that are just for "garnish" that you don't actually eat. If I wanted unnecessary garnishes, I'd go out to eat.

What did we give each other for Valentine's, you ask? I got a box of See's chocolates (that I picked out myself - I have specific chocolate tastes!) and a house plant (it lasts longer than flowers - a lot longer). David got 11,000 perler beads and made Pokemon and Nintendo characters all weekend long. I'll be sure to post some pictures of those, they're quite impressive.

I hope that you all had an excellent Valentine's Day as well, and got to spend it with those you love, eating chocolate. :)

3 weeks old

On Monday, Amelia "turned," I guess you could say, 3 weeks old! Here are some pictures for you to enjoy.

Amelia's First Bath

Tonight David and I gave Amelia her first real bath! I say real because we've given her a few baths before, but we could only wipe her down with a damp cloth because her umbilical cord stump hadn't fallen off yet. As a result, she was probably cold and didn't enjoy the experience. Now that she can have her belly covered in the water, she had a much better time.

David and I inadvertently went for an aquatic theme with our bath time accoutrements. We have a whale tub, complete with mini whale pouring cup; a crab bath mitt (seen on David in the photo), and sea life-themed bath towels as well. If she seems a little shocked, it's because the flash on our camera is ridiculously bright. I have a hard time not looking shocked in pictures taken with it as well.

 

We dried her off in one of the aquatic towels, and then put her in her duck-themed "robe." It's made of the softest terry you'll ever feel; if they made one in an adult size, I'd be all over it.

 

After some food and some warm pajamas, Amelia fell right asleep. And she's been asleep for the past hour and a half - the longest she's slept for a single stretch today. *Sigh*

Amelia Catherine Steed

With our baby girl being two weeks old yesterday, I figured it was high time I did a blog post about her. I won't bore/gross you out with all the details; if you want them, call me. I'd love some adult interaction, even if it is just over the phone. :)

I was induced on Sunday night around 11:00 pm, my water broke around 7:30 am, and after an hour of pushing, she was born! We welcomed Amelia Catherine Steed on January 24th and 10:37 am. She weighed 8 lbs 10 oz and was 21 inches long!

 

It was definitely the most physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausting thing I have ever done. I had never been so tired in my life. I'm not going to lie, I'm still pretty tired, but nothing compares with that first 24 hours after giving birth. See? Tired but happy:

 

Having never been hospitalized before, I could never understand why people hated them so much; I understand completely now. I was more than ready to go home after two days. I wanted to sleep in my own bed, and I was tired of nurses coming in at all hours of the night and day to take my vitals and whisk Amelia away to weigh her and do tests. Had there been a lock on the door, I would have used it. Here we are, all ready to go home:

 

Before Amelia was born, I made several casual commitments, such as having an unmedicated birth - and that was not easy. Another was to breastfeed as long as possible, and I didn't realize what a job that would be, either. This past week I took Amelia with me to my parents' house during the day, and my mom and I wanted to go to Walmart; we were about to turn into the parking lot when David called and said, "I think she's hungry." So we turned around and went back home. I turned to my mom and said, "Silly me, I thought the tether between the baby and me broke when David cut the cord." It's kind of rough being THE food source. Nothing reinforces the fact that your life now revolves around this tiny creature quite like breastfeeding. Overall, it's been going well. Amelia does get a little confused sometimes, however:

In all the chaos that comes with being new parents, we did manage to get some announcements out and take pictures to document her age. This picture was taken when she was 3 days old:

This one is at 10 days:

And this one is at 14 days (we all survived the first two weeks!):

 

It's been an exhausting experience for all involved. This is how David and I spent our first "date night" home with Amelia:

 

We love our little girl, though! She loves to smile, especially in her sleep. She has a cute belly button, and a myriad of facial expressions, some of which seem far too serious for a newborn. My favorite is her "I don't think so" look; it's the exact look David gets on his face when someone says something he doesn't believe is quite accurate. I'm enjoying getting to stay home with her for a few weeks before I go back to work; we'll see how David and my dad handle full-time childcare then