Gwen's 4-month check-up

Gwen had her 4-month doctors appointment yesterday. It included her second round of immunizations which meant two shots for her and an oral goop. She did MUCH better with the shots than she did at her 2-month appointment...she cried during the shots but was back to smiling and cooing as soon as they were done and unlike the last time she didn't feel yucky and lathargic afterwards. She did sleep a bunch all day and was running a slight fever before bedtime but she was still smiling, playing and eating like a champ. She continues to be a long skinny baby despite all of my efforts to fatten her up:
Weight: 12lbs 13oz (33%ile)
Height: 25in (87%ile)

Apparently she's quite the advanced little tike though with all of her rolling over (both ways) and her ability to hold her own weight on her legs when held in the standing position...to me that just means that I'll need to child-proof the house before I thought.

Gwen's newest discovery...her feet. She can't take her eyes off of them. She grabs them and it looks like she really wants to put them in her mouth but she just can't get them there....either she's too tall or her diaper is in the way. I'm sure she'll figure something out eventually.

She's started to hold her own bottle...big steps for a little girl!

She loves Margot...cause she has lots and lots of hair to hold on to. Fortunately Gwen hasn't tried to put it in her mouth yet...it's only a matter of time though.

This isn't the best photo but it's the only one I have of Gwen and her giraffe lovie which she LOVES. She'll rub it all over her face before falling asleep.

Gwen update

Well folks, the little monkey is officially sick. It's only a cold so it's nothing major at this point but she's full of snot (I had no idea so much snot could come out of such a small nose) and had this tiny delicate little cough that wakes her up at night. When Gwen doesn't feel good she just gets very quiet and kinda lathargic rather than crying which somehow just makes me feel horrible for her. She's getting plenty of rest and she's still eating well so I'm sure she'll pull through like a champ.

She is officially FOUR MONTHS today...can you believe it! She has her 4-month dr appt on Monday which means more shots for her. yuck. But I'm excited to see how she's doing from a growth standpoint...she's one long baby (she's in her 6month clothes already)!

Here are some of her latest and greatest:

Gwen loves her little fuzzy bunnies in her car seat. She's a tactile baby...loves to run her hands over anything soft.

Her favorite new snuggly towel (thank you Marilyn!!)

Out on our walk on Monday. her hair is getting lighter!

James and Gwen playing airplane, one of her favorites.

Gwen not feeling so great last night...aw.

The life of this working mom

For my own memory down the line, I thought I would document and share my current schedule:
3:30-4:00am - Gwen's typical wake-up and eat time
5:00am - wake up to get ready for work (that one hour of extra sleep is TOTALLY worth it) and pump
6:00-7:00am - drive to work...hope for really good music that can wake me up (the book on tape requires too much mental engagement that early in the morning)
8:30am - pump. Now, it's worthwhile to note that pumping in my office to 100% akward. Not only do I feel it's just weird to have my boobs out at work, I hate thinking that other people know that I have my boobs out at work....it's a lot to adjust to. Fortunately I had a lock put on my door last Friday cause that chair wedged up against the door handle just didn't provide enough emotional security for me. Can you imagine anything more horrific than someone walking in and seeing me sitting there in my hands free pump bra and funnels? god.
11:30am - pump
2:30pm - pump
3:30pm (ish) - leave work to go pick up Gwen
5:00pm - pick up Gwen from Rachael's house. Usually she's just getting up from a nap, well fed and HAPPY (thank you nanny Sarah!). This is absolutely one of the best parts of my day. That first smile is enough to wipe away any stress or bad remnants from work. Man she sure is cute.
5:00-6:00(ish) - play play play.
6:00pm (ish) - Gwen will usually take about a 30 min nap at some point in the early evening. This is when I make my dinner attempts which I have to say have been pretty darned good lately. I'm not going to go so far as to call myself a good cook but I'm pretty proud that I'm able to get food on the table and usually eat in about 30min or less. I''ll admit that I do rely on frozen meals about half of the time....sometimes I just don't feel like cooking.
7pm - 8:30/9:00pm - I get another hour or so of Gwen time and while she's not as bright and shiney as she usually is in the morning, we still have a great time cause by this time dad is usually done working and he is brilliant at making her laugh. We also give her a nice bath about every other night...she loves it. This is another one of my favorite times of the day.
9:00/9:30pm - Time for bed. Too often I get sucked into something and end up staying up till 10pm but I need more than 6 hours of sleep so I'm trying to get to bed earlier these days.

All in all we're making it work. Being back in the office is fine. I really like the people I work with so it makes the days enjoyable. My perspective on the work has certainly changed though, but I think it's for the better. I'd say I've definitely been forced to be more efficient with my time as I can't work into the wee hours of the night anymore and I think my team is starting to get used to me not being available 24/7 via blackberry. Yay! I always hated that blackberry anyways.

So I'll leave you with this latest working mom learning moment: Last week I rushed back to my office after a meeting as I was late to pumping and I felt like I had rocks on my chest. I whipped out my pump, plugged in the funnels, got my 'hands free' bra thing in place and started her up. I was a good 3 minutes into the process when I felt wetness on the top of my legs. I had completely forgotten to put the collection bottles on the funnels...milk everywhere. Not cool with black pants on. As any good mom does, I had a stash of wet wipes in my purse though so all was well...except that I lost a good 2 ounces which sucks cause that milk is like pure gold.

Gwen's new trick

On new years day Gwen discovered how to roll over from her back to her belly. Now, this would be a great thing if she actually liked to be on her stomach but she lasts about 3 mintues before getting irritated. The problem is that while she used to know how to turn over from her stomach to her back (which was aggrivating when we were trying to make sure she got adequate tummy time), she has since forgotten so we now find ourselves in a constant cycle of laying down on paymat, flipping over, crying, returning her to her back, flipping back over to her tummy, crying...and so on. Super.

Fortunately Happa bought Gwen a bumbo seat.

Gwen feeling pretty proud of her ability to roll over

Still pretty happy on her tummy

In the bumbo seat after getting frustrated on her belly (I love that look of concentration....she's going to get that stuffed bird!)

Christmas 2009

Gwen had a fantastic first Christmas! I (Jenna) was able to get an additional 2 weeks of maternity leave so I didn't return to work until the 28th but mom had already made her plans to come out and be 'nanny' for a few weeks so we were able to get some good quality time in (and some shopping) before christmas day. Happa and Deven joined us the week of Christmas. We've never had so many people in our little townhome at one time but I have to say that it was pretty comfortable! Dad helped us get the house in order, mom helped us stay well fed and organized, Deven made Gwen laugh (Deven can make her smile and laugh like no one else can) and James and I just sat around and watched it all (ha! right.).

Gwen is continuing to be an amazing baby. She's still sleep throught he night regularly and she's always quick with a smile. Gramma has had quite an effect on her though, causing many 'firsts' during her visit. On Gramma's first night in town (her birthday) she got Gwen's first laugh and on Sunday, Dec 20th James and I were out running errands and came home to a Gwen who had found her voice! Ever since she has been a gurgling singing machine!

We missed our Thanksgiving post so I've included some photos from that day as it was pretty funny how Gwen discovered sticking out her tongue. She's a funny kid!

(our christmas card photo)

Gwen on Thanksgiving (pretty funny photo though)

Gwen found her tongue on Thanksgiving too!

Gwen eating her Elf on the Shelf doll....mmm.

A snow storm hit the weekend before xmas and dumped 24" on us. Of course James donned his bermuda shorts and crocks to shovel (surprising he didn't wear his flip flops!)

 Gwen's new hat from Nancy...it's the only way to control that hair!

Footy PJs with glow in the dark skulls...awesome.

Happa brought Gwen her first fleece vest...she's a snow bunny already!

Heading out in the cold to play with some of Deven's new xmas toys (he got a mini-motorcycle this year)