Pullin' an all nighter...

She did it!!! Natalie slept the entire night Thursday night. Kaija and Josh think they have found the solution to getting her to sleep through the night. Before, in the evenings, Josh would bottle feed Natalie before they would put her down for the night. After eating, her eyes would be as wide as saucers and it would be difficult to get her to fall asleep. She would then proceed to wake up around 4:30am in the morning. Fortunately, she would fall right back to sleep after feeding but, our feelings were, if we could just make it through the entire night.

Thursday night may have been the break we needed. We decided to bottle feed earlier in the night and let Kaija breast feed before putting Natalie down. The result, 9 hours of straight sleep. That's right, 9 straight hours of sleep. It was fantastic to say the least. Our guess is that she enjoys the closeness and warmth of being close to Kaija during feedings and that she has to work harder to get the milk, thus exhausting her. Who knows, maybe last night will prove to be an anomaly, however, we are pretty confident this is all she needed.

In other news, Grandma and Grandpa J are coming up to visit for Labor day weekend. It will be nice that they will be able to stay an extra day with the Holiday.

Your so vain...

Here is the link to the professional pictures that Natalie took over a month ago. Stephanie Zbinden did an amazing job and was one of the most patient people we've ever met...maybe its because she has three kids herself. Anyway, without further ado...

http://www.thehipstudio.com/

Click 'Enter full screen'

Click 'Proofing'

Password is sleepy

Ouchies...

Natalie had her two month checkup yesterday. At the appoint she had her vitals checked and received four immunization shots in her thighs and one oral shot in her mouth. First, Natalie's measurements: 12.1 lbs (76%) and 241/4" (97%) in length. It appears she is going to be tall. The joke around the house is that she may be taller than G'Ma J by the age 5.

Secondly, the shots: The oral vaccine (Rotovirus) came first since we knew she would not have any issues...seriously, you don't get to 12 pounds in 2 months by being picky. Afterwards the nurse gave two immunization shots; Hepatitis B and Prevar in one thigh, and, diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis (DTaP) and Hemophilia Influenza type b in the other. We are not completely sure what all of the shots are for but they are required and hopefully will keep Natalie from getting sick once she heads to daycare. Natalie fussed during the actual shots but did not give up too much of a fight. This was appreciated since Josh had the job of holding her arms down. Afterwards, Natalie was patched up with Dora the Explorer band aids and sent on her way. She handled this far better than we expected...maybe she is tough (Josh's version) or maybe it was the Tylenol (Kaija's opinion). The picture in the upper right has the band aids in view.

The doctor did notice that Natalie had torticollis in her neck. This is basically a tight muscle in her neck. The doctor did not seem too worried about this and mentioned that Natalie's case was very minor. However, to nip this in the bud, Kaija has already lined up a physical therapist to work on loosening that muscle. The cause...most likely the result of how Natalie was positioned in-utero.

Big girls bed...

Last night we started putting Natalie in her room for the night. Up until now we had Natalie sleeping in a bassinet in our room. The first night went really well. We did not put Natalie down until much later than normal, however, once we put her in the crib she was out for 6 straight hours. Not too bad but we hoping to gradually increase the sleep time.

Natalie has a Doctors appointment scheduled for this Tues. This is the appointment where Natalie will receive all of her shots. Josh will be required to be there to hold Natalie down since Kaija will not be able to bare watching Natalie suffer. It will be interesting to see Natalie's new weight and height as well.

One thing Natalie is doing more of now is sucking on her fist. Its great that she is learning to self-sooth herself, however, she generally falls asleep with her hands still slobbered. The effect...freezing cold hands. To quickly warm them up Josh will place her hands under his armpits.

...leaving, on a jet plane...

Josh is back from Las Vegas where he attended a close buddies bachelor party leaving Natalie and Kaija to fend for themselves for a couple of days. After Las Vegas, Josh met up with a couple of co-workers in San Jose, Ca for a couple more days of work. Luckily Carrie Summers and Lauren Williams spent some time in Ashburn to lessen the burden and keep Kaija company.

Natalie is smiling more and more and is now starting to grab at some of her toys and Kaija's hair. As far as sleep is concerned, she is still waking up at about 3:30am for a feeding. However, she falls right back asleep afterwards so, other than the 30 minutes to feed, we are far from sleep deprived. She generally wakes up around 8:00am to feed again but Kaija and Josh are usually awake by then.

We have finally ordered our announcements for Natalie and should have them out shortly. After the announcements are out Kaija and Josh will post a website that you can go on and see a slide show of professional pictures.

I can see clearly now...

Today Natalie has made it clear she knows, or atleast recognizes her mom. Whenever Kaija is around, Natalie stares intently with a slight grin at Kaija. It is a look of comfort so, while she may not know Kaija as her mom, she definetely knows her face and voice. Ahhh, the benefits of being the food provider. Josh is jealous.

Natalie did have baby acne which is now almost gone. The acne did not seem to bother Natalie but mommy and daddy are eagerly looking forward to the acne disappearing.

Natalie has big blue eyes right now which is great, however, those big blues make taking photos difficult since her eyes are always red, even with the red-eye reducer turned on. Oh well, thank goodness for photo shop.

Uncle Sam...

Uncle Sam flew in from San Diego on Thursday as part of a surprise for Grandpa J upon his return from Bermuda. The reason, Grandpa J is turning 61. To celebrate we are all going out to a restaurant. Hopefully she'll sleep through the majority of the dinner. Grands J and Uncle Sam both came just in time to see some of Natalie's first smiles.

Pushed aside...

Josh knew something was awry when he woke up to Natalie sleeping in between him and Kaija. Soon enough, Natalie positioned herself close to Josh and began making her grunting sounds. Those grunting sounds are hard to explain but, for those tennis fans, they resemble the sounds female tennis players make when swinging their rackets. Anyway, Josh was up-and-at em' shortly after. Most likely part of Kaija's plan.

Smiling...

Natalie has started to smile. Over the past couple of days Natalie would show us a smile but Kaija and Josh were not sure if it was an actual smile or just a gas or sleep grimace. Yesterday, however, she smiled multiple times especially after naps or when she has her diaper changed. Unfortunately she smiles when the cameras are not rolling so no pictures or video yet. As soon as we get some footage we will post.

On tap for today, celebrate Grandpa J's 61st birthday with Uncle Sam who flew in from San Diego for the surprise appearance. We are also going to start shopping around for a jogging stroller. The current Graco stroller just does not live up to Josh's all terrain expectations.

Dr. Feelgood...

Today Natalie went back to the Dr.'s office for her regular checkup. She weighed in at 10 lbs 12 oz and 23 1/8" in length. The weight was in the 85 percentile and the height was in the 95 percentile. All of those feedings are paying off. Everything is checking out fine although the Doctor did reinforce the fact that Natalie should stay away from other kids until her 2 month checkup where she will get her shots and build her immune system. Josh and Kaija are anxiously waiting to introduce Natalie to more lil' friends.

Speaking of the the 2 month checkup. Natalie will have to get 4 prick shots and one oral shot on August 28th...ouch!!! Kaija is making Josh attend this appointment.

Welcome to the world...

Josh and Kaija both had good friends from college give birth to healthy baby boys this past week. First up, Jack August Golub was born Thursday Aug 2 weighing in at 7lbs 14ozs; 20.5". That is a pretty big baby for 13 days early. Another couple of weeks and he may have been Natalie's size. Congratulations Annette and Andy!! One day later, Aug 3, Brad and Michelle Tilley gave birth to another healthy boy, William Brennan Tilley weighing in at 8lbs 8ozs; 21". Josh is not too good with details so we are not sure the middle name.

Not too much to report this week. G&G J came for an evening on their way to catch a cruise in Baltimore. We did go out for a family dinner that Saturday night with baby in tow. Everything went very smoothly and Natalie slept the majority of the time.

Natalie has a Dr's appointment tomorrow so we will soon find out her new weight and height. Kaija and Josh feel as if she's grown a lot. We had to go to the 3-6 month size in the Halo Sleep Sacks so she is definetely bigger. We'll report the new statistics tomorrow.

Check out the new videos to the right.